

























* 



0ass__ 


Book _ 


CQPYRPGKT DEPOSIT 











JUNIPERO SERRA 



I 















JUNIPERO SERRA 

The Man and His Work 


BY 


A. H. FITCH 

A 


WITH FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS 
AND A MAP 



CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

I 9 I 4 




V 

. si 4. 


Copyright 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 

1914 


Published April, 1914 


MAY -1 1914 

II. 9 . ifsll Printing <Eo.. ©Ifirae* 

/<V*> 

©CI.A371644 



To 

My Sister Laura 
This Book is Dedicated 
in 

Grateful A ffection 
























PREFACE 


The best and most interesting method of obtain¬ 
ing historical information is the biographical. This 
is equally true whether the reader is studying a 
particular period relating to his own country or 
is taking a broad survey of universal history. Biog¬ 
raphy, especially when supplemented by extracts 
from original sources, leaves upon the mind a more 
definite impression than any other form of his¬ 
torical writing, with the one great exception of 
autobiography, of which unfortunately there is too 
little. 

When, therefore, I desired certain information 
relating to the central and dominant figure in Cal¬ 
ifornia during the early period of Spanish occupa¬ 
tion, I turned to Francisco Palou’s biography of 
Fray Junipero Serra. This work, together with 
his Noticias de la Nueva California, is today the 
standard history of Spanish California, and con¬ 
stitutes the source from which every historian of 
that state draws his facts for the years 1769 to 1785- 

While Palou’s account of his friend’s life and 
labors on the Pacific coast is of great interest to 
the student of California history, it is perhaps not 
too much to say that his book makes but dry reading 
for the average person. There can be little doubt 
that the admiration and love Palou entertained for 
Junipero induced him to chronicle his life with the 

vii 


viii 


Preface 


sole view of procuring for him recognition in the 
church as one of her saints; hence the prominence 
accorded the religious aspect of Junipero’s life, 
the detailed narration of miraculous happenings 
in his career, etc., which detract for the general 
reader from the historical interest of the book. 

Although every work on California since Palou’s 
days necessarily contains references to Fray Juni- 
pero Serra, no other biography of him has been 
written. It was to supply this lack, and also 
because Palou’s biography has to my knowledge 
never been translated * that I undertook to write 
the present work, not, however, without many mis¬ 
givings as to my ability to do justice to the subject. 
The national, and not merely local, interest of 
Junipero, as the preserver to Spain (and thereby 
indirectly to the United States) of the Pacific 
coast, from San Francisco to San Diego, becomes 
evident to all who read the history of California. 

Just in so far as our importance as a nation is 
affected by our coast line, does the nation owe a 
debt to Junipero Serra. Even Mr. Hubert Ban¬ 
croft, who in his invaluable History of California 
but faintly disguises his dislike of the friar, says: 
“It did not require Palou’s eulogistic pen to prove 
him a great and remarkable man.” 

A. H. Fitch. 

DOBBS FERRY, N. Y. 

* Since this was written, a translation of Palou’s Vida 
has been published. 


AUTHORITIES QUOTED 

Bancroft, Hubert. History of California. 7 vols. Cali¬ 
fornia Pastoral. 1 vol. History of Mexico. 6 vols. North¬ 
west Coast. 2 vols. Native Races of the Pacific States. 5 
vols. 

Fisher, George Park. History of the Christian Church. 1 
vol. 1895. 

Forbes, Alexander. California: A History of Upper and 
Lower. 1 vol. London, 1839. 

Hittell, Theodore H. History of California. 2 vols. 1885. 

La Perouse, Jean Francois de Galoup, Compte de. Voy¬ 
age Round the World, 1785-1788. 2 vols. Translated 

from the French. London, 1798. 

Marie Antoinette. Correspondence secrete entre Marie 
Therese et le Cte. de Mercy-Argenteau. 3 vols. Paris, 

1874- 

Palou, Francisco. Relacion Historica de la Vida y Apos- 
tolicas Tareas del Venerable Padre Fray Junipero Serra, y 
de las missiones que fundo en la California Septentrional, y 
nuevos establecimientos de Monterey. I vol. Mexico, 1787. 
Noticias de la Antiqua y Nueva California. 4 vols. 

Serra, Junipero. Diary, Loreto to San Diego — 1769 . Pub¬ 
lished in Out West , magazine, March-June, 1902. 


ix 











■ 































CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I Youth and Early Manhood .i 

II Mexico City and Sierra Gorda . . * . 18 

III The Expulsion of the Jesuits.39 

IV Missions in Lower California.52 

V Serra’s Long Land Journey.69 

VI Experiences with the Indians.88 

VII San Diego and Sailor Sorrows.108 

VIII Missionary Hardships.120 

IX The Coming of the Ship.137 

X Mission Founding Work.160 

XT Anxious Days.185 

XII Winning His Ends in Mexico.195 

XIII Adventures of Captain Anza.218 

XIV Martyrdom at San Diego.235 

XV Encouragements.271 

XVI Daily Life in the Missions.289 

XVII With Neve at Monterey.303 

XVIII Brothers Meet and Part.311 

XIX Military Movements.325 

XX Faithful Service to the End.339 

Index. 359 


XI 



























I 


* 






♦ 






ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Junipero Serra. Frontispiece 

Mission of San Diego de Alcala.118 

Serra memorial cross at Monterey.152 

Carmel Mission (San Carlos).164 

San Gabriel Mission.170 

San Antonio de Padua Mission.170 

San Luis Obispo Mission.186 

Ground plan of San Juan Capistrano Mission .... 240 

Serra monument at San Francisco.254 

San Juan Capistrano Mission, outer corridor .... 278 

The Bells of San Juan Capistrano.278 

Mission Dolores, San Francisco de Asis.302 

Santa Clara Mission. 322 V 

San Buenaventura Mission.334 

Serra cross on Mount Rubidoux.348 

Early map of the Californias.358 


xiii 
















f 


JUNIPERO SERRA 

THE MAN AND HIS WORK 
CHAPTER I 

YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD 

T HERE still clings to the name of California 
a pleasant halo of romance, although the 
mystery which some two hundred odd years ago 
lent a subtle charm to that name has long since 
departed, together with those dauntless Spanish 
spirits who sailed the seas, to plant the emblem of 
the church and Spain on Californian soil. 

The names of Cortes, of Cabrillo, and Vizcaino, 
those intrepid discoverers and explorers of the 
Pacific by the coast of California, are familiar to 
all. But how many of us, beyond the boundaries 
of that western state, have heard the name of Fray 
Junipero Serra? And yet, had it not been for this 
Franciscan friar, the history of these United States 
of ours might have been strangely altered. The 
Russians — the ever-present bugbear of Spain and 
her American colonies in the Eighteenth century 
— might finally have swooped down from the far 
North and raised the standard of the Czar in Alta 


2 


Jumpero Serra 

California. Or England, incited thereto by reports 
from her many sailor adventurers, might have sent 
forth to that land of sunshine and flowers the 
nucleus of a thriving English colony. 

In their isolated state, it is doubtful if the people 
of such a colony would have dreamed of claiming 
independent sovereignty. The surrounding coun¬ 
try was filled with savages, while on beyond 
stretched eastward for thousands of miles a con¬ 
tinent unknown, unexplored, and full of fearful 
mystery. By sea, too, the Californian colonies were 
not much nearer the Atlantic coast, for the voyage 
around the Horn, which in our time can be made 
in sixty days, could not then be made under one 
hundred and fifty or two hundred days. It is safe 
to say that England would have been sure of her 
Californian possessions and so would have retained, 
perhaps permanently, her foothold in these states. 

But a brown-frocked friar from the terraced 
island of Majorca has made of such possibilities 
idle, fruitless conjectures. It was because of his dar¬ 
ing determination and intrepid spirit that Cali¬ 
fornia was not abandoned by the Spaniards. And it 
was owing to his ceaseless toil that later the long 
chain of missions was laid which carried civiliza¬ 
tion from the wilds of San Diego to the oft fog- 
enshrouded sand dunes of San Francisco harbor. 
Spain took possession of California, but it was Fray 
Jumpero Serra who retained it for her, and the 
history of California offers us no more interesting 
picture than that of this Franciscan friar. 


Youth and Early Manhood 3 

Francisco Palou, the faithful friend, pupil, and 
biographer of Fray Junipero, tells us quaintly that 
this “ indefatigable servant in the vineyard of our 
Saviour began his laborious life the twenty-fourth 
day of November in the year 1713, at one o’clock in 
the morning, in the town of Petra in the Island of 
Majorca.” 

There are probably no more beautiful islands in 
the world than the Balearic Islands. The ancients 
gave to them the name of Aphrodisiades, or Islands 
of Love. Majorca is the largest and loveliest of 
them all. It was counted at one time the great 
market of Europe. In the eighteenth century, as 
far as commercial importance was concerned, the 
islands could be numbered among the “ forgotten 
isles.” In this fair land of the orange and the 
ruby muscatel, the inhabitants were industrious, 
extremely hospitable, and of an orthodoxy that even 
the rationalizing spirit of eighteenth-century 
Europe could not disturb. 

Such was the birthplace of Fray Junipero Serra. 
His parents were Antonio Serra and Margarita 
Ferrer, pious, honest peasants of exemplary habits. 
They named their infant son Miguel Joseph. He 
was baptized the day of his birth. The child was 
early instructed in the Catholic faith, as soon as he 
began to walk his parents taking him regularly to 
the church and convent of San Bernadino in Petra. 
He gained the affections of the good fathers in the 
convent, who taught the boy to sing, and he 
served as chorister and acolyte in the parish church, 


4 


Jumpero Serra 

to the great delight of his parents. He was small 
is stature and not so robust as little peasant boys 
are generally conceived to be; but if he was con¬ 
stitutionally frail, he was also constitutionally 
intrepid. He had an ardent temperament and 
possessed a strength of will and intellect which 
would have made him an important factor in any 
walk of life he might have chosen. 

His’purpose to become a Franciscan was formed 
in early childhood, just as later his purpose to 
become a missionary was formed in early manhood. 
There were, therefore, in Junipero’s life no wasted 
years in which the mind struggled blindly in a 
career not suited to it till it finally threw off its yoke 
and found its proper sphere. In another respect he 
was also peculiarly noteworthy. His life can be 
searched in vain for a single record of sin, or 
frivolity, or dreary waste places. He was not con¬ 
verted after years spent in dissipation. His soul 
from childhood to the hour of his death remained 
ever exquisitely clean and fresh. 

While yet a boy, his parents, observing his ex¬ 
traordinary abilities, took him to Palma to pursue 
his studies. He became in a short time conspicuous 
among his fellow students for his proficiency in 
learning. In the evenings when other youths were 
dreamily tinkling their guitars in dim flower- 
scented patios, or gayly roaming Palma’s narrow 
streets to serenade dark-eyed maidens with some 
Majorcan lyric of love, the young peasant from 
Petra was absorbed in his books, 



Youth and Early Manhood 


5 


His intellectual attainments made him the pride 
and delight of his teachers. Yet in the midst of the 
distraction of studies his mind harked back con¬ 
tinually to his longing to become a monk. One day 
he asked the consent of the Provincial to enter the 
Franciscan order. His small stature, his delicate 
appearance caused the church dignitary to pro¬ 
nounce him too young to take monastic vows. As a 
matter of fact he was in his seventeenth year, and 
the Provincial, being informed of this, withdrew 
his objection. Young Serra took his first vows 
September 14, 1730. In this year of his novitiate 
the principal convent in Palma gave a signal proof 
of the high appreciation accorded him by electing 
him professor of philosophy, a position in which he 
appears to have distinguished himself markedly. 

At his ordination he took the name of Junipero. 
The first Junipero was one of the disciples of St. 
Francis, who besides being distinguished for his 
humility was the jolliest of the “ joyous penitents.” 
His pious capers smack of a lively sense of humor. 
On one occasion, when forbidden to give away his 
cloak, (for by so doing he would have left himself 
naked) he said to the next beggar, “ If you tear it 
off my back I will not resist you,” and afterward 
cheerfully explained to St. Francis that “ a worthy 
person took it from me and went away with it.” 
All are familiar with the story of how he avoided a 
triumphant entry into Rome, prepared for him by 
an enthusiastic crowd, by the simple expedient of 
making a fool of himself on a seesaw, until, deeply 


6 


Jumpero Serra 

offended, his admirers turned away and left him to 
enter the city alone. That the serious young Major- 
can professor chose to call himself after this merry 
Franciscan throws an interesting sidelight on his 
character. 

While still a young man, Fray Junipero, as we 
must now call him, obtained a degree of S.T.D. 
from the famous Lullian University, with an ap¬ 
pointment to the John Scotus chair of Philosophy. 
He held the appointment with distinguished suc¬ 
cess until he left Spain. His doctrinal learning 
brought him fame, but it was his eloquence as a 
preacher which dominated the people, who flocked 
in large crowds to hear his sermons. He had a 
sonorous voice and a fervent delivery. A man at 
once so learned, so eloquent, and so possessed of 
the faith of a child, could not fail to stir his listen¬ 
ers in every fiber of their being. 

He was selected by the university to deliver the 
panegyric on the occasion of a festival in honor of 
their patron and compatriot, the eminent Dr. Ray¬ 
mond Lully. This famous mystic and theologian 
had led a wild life in his youth. It is said that he 
once scandalized the people by entering the church 
on horseback to see a lady of whom he was enam¬ 
ored. Years afterward he was stoned to death by 
Mussulmans in Africa, where he had gone to obtain 
converts to Christianity through his peculiar system 
of logic. 

Fray Junipero’s address on the life of this acute 
theologian and prolific writer was so scholarly that 


7 


Youth and Early Manhood 

the learned men of Palma and the university were 
equally amazed and delighted, and an eminent 
critic pronounced the discourse “ worthy of being 
printed in letters of gold.” It was at this time, 
when Junipero had obtained his highest renown, 
that he determined to devote the remainder of his 
life to his fellowmen in the wilderness. 

Long before the Reformation, the activity of 
the Catholic church in every country save Spain 
had almost entirely ceased. Popes and princes were 
more absorbed in temporal affairs than in spiritual 
conquests. But in the Spanish peninsula missionary 
ardor had never abated. Spain’s proximity to the 
Moslems, her prolonged and constant struggle with 
the infidels, kept the missionary spirit alive in the 
hearts of her people. The great maritime dis¬ 
coveries of the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries 
added fuel to their ardor. To traverse dangerous 
seas, to penetrate unknown lands for the purpose of 
carrying Christianity to the heathen was to Spanish 
cavalier, and Spanish priest, one of the leading 
motives of their exploring expeditions. 

Down to the latter end of the eighteenth century, 
the love of proselytizing may be said to have been 
one of the prominent characteristics of the Span¬ 
iard. The Franciscans were the first religious order 
to send missionaries to Mexico. Twelve Franciscan 
friars undertook the perilous task of introducing 
Christianity to the natives of the conquered country. 
In fact, from the time of the second voyage of 
Columbus, which several Franciscans accompa- 


8 


Jumpero Serra 

nied, members of the Order shared in every expedi¬ 
tion to New Spain and established their missions. 
So powerful an organization did they become in 
Mexico, that in the eighteenth century their con¬ 
vents were to be found in every pueblo of impor¬ 
tance in the country.* In consequence, their influ¬ 
ence was vast; frequently the king himself would 
request them to support the administration of his 
viceroy. By royal command the authorities in New 
Spain were not permitted in any way to interfere 
with the internal government of their order. The 
missionaries were wretchedly paid. The stipend 
allowed by the crown for carrying Christianity into 
remote wildernesses, for braving dangers, enduring 
untold hardships, was three hundred pesos (about 
$150) a year to each missionary. This pittance was 
often grudgingly paid and sometimes not at all, 
according to the state of the royal exchequer. 

But to poverty Junipero was as indifferent as he 
was resolutely blind to the allurements of ambition, 
fame, and power. When he determined to employ 
his marked abilities, his vigorous mind, to the con¬ 
version of the heathen, to give up his splendid 
career in Majorca for this purpose, he told no one 
of his resolve for he feared his plans would be 
frustrated. Notwithstanding that he guarded his 
secret jealously, a certain professor in the convent, 
Fray Rafael Verger, heard it rumored that one of 
the brotherhood was about to embark for the 
New World as a missionary. He repeated the 

* Bancroft, History of Mexico, III, p. 714. 


Youth and Early Manhood 


9 


rumor to his friend, Francisco Palou, and confessed 
that he was sorely prompted to turn missionary 
himself, but that the duties of his professorship 
made such a step impracticable. The two friends 
made many efforts to discover the identity of the 
unknown friar. Their inquiries were futile, nor 
were they even successful in learning whether the 
vague rumors which had reached them contained 
an element of truth. Palou’s mind dwelt incessantly 
on the subject; it held a fascination for him. He 
wished to consecrate his years to missionary labor. 
He determined to ask counsel of Fray Junipero, 
his professor, whom he greatly esteemed and loved. 
One day when the two were alone together Palou 
told him his secret aspirations. As Junipero lis¬ 
tened, his eyes overflowed with tears. They were 
tears of intense relief and joy. It appears that, 
though his own resolve had never wavered, he had 
not been without a great dread of future loneliness, 
of separation from the companions of his young 
manhood. He had passed long hours in prayer. He 
had completed two novenas * to the Virgin and 
San Francisco Solano, in which he implored them 
to inspire in the heart of a friend the same ardor 
which burned within his own. He now felt that 
his prayers had been answered. He in turn un¬ 
burdened himself to Palou. Before teacher and 
pupil separated, their plans had taken definite 

* A novena consists in holding special prayers during 
a period of nine days. 


10 


Jumpero Serra 


shape. Junipero enjoined upon the younger man the 
strictest secrecy. It was necessary for the friars to 
obtain the consent of the comisario general of 
foreign missions. Junipero accordingly wrote to 
this functionary. In his reply the comisario gave 
him small encouragement. It was difficult, he said, 
to arrange the matter ; the two applicants were not 
on the mainland, moreover the complete quota of 
friars for the missions had already been chosen 
from Andalusia and would soon embark for the 
New World. 

Though bitterly disappointed, Junipero did not 
lose courage. He wrote again, asking permission 
to join a college on the mainland, in order to remove 
one of the objections mentioned by the comisario. 
While affairs were at this juncture, the Lenten 
season of 1749 was approaching, and Fray Junipero 
was sent to preach in the parish church of his native 


town, Petra. Before leaving Palma, he again 
cautioned Palou to guard well their secret. 

Now it happened that among the friars who had 
volunteered and had been selected by the comisario 
to go to America, were five who had never seen a 
larger expanse of water than the rivers flowing past 
their inland homes. When they gazed for the first 
time upon the great, turbulent ocean and heard the 
roar of the raging surf, they were terror stricken. 
Their fear overcame their zeal. They repented of 
their offer to Christianize benighted heathen and 
returned hurriedly to the safety of their homes. 
The comisario general knew where he could supply 



11 


Youth and Early Manhood 

the places of at least two of these timid ones, and 
he dispatched immediately the necessary licenses 
to Fray Junipero and Palou. What happened to 
these licenses or patentes as they were called, is not 
known, but Palou intimated that they arrived safely 
at the monastery, then were strangely lost between 
the entrance door of that establishment and his cell. 
Whether or not the convent authorities deliberately 
confiscated the letters, is not known, but it is certain 
that they were strongly averse to losing so brilliant 
a member of their faculty as Fray Junipero Serra. 
His reputation as an acute theologian, distinguished 
scholar, and eloquent preacher had added in no 
small degree to the renown of their convent, both 
at home and abroad. To lose so valuable a servant 
in the great mission fields of the American wilder¬ 
ness was not to be tolerated without a struggle. It 
was doubtless this opposition that Junipero antici¬ 
pated when he impressed upon Palou the necessity 
of secrecy. 

Once in receipt of his patente he well knew that 
his departure could not be hindered, but until 
then he would not be free to follow his pious inclin¬ 
ations if these took him from Majorca. The 
comisario, hearing nothing further from either 
Fray Junipero or Palou, and perhaps suspecting 
the cause, again dispatched two patentes. On this 
occasion he took the precaution of sending the 
papers by a special courier. They did not miscarry 
a second time, and Palou received them as he was 
entering the refectory. It was the last day of 


12 


Jumpero Serra 

March. Palou lost no time. With the precious 
patentes tucked carefully inside his frock, he took 
the road to Petra. He arrived that night. Seeking 
Jumpero, he delivered the letter and license. His 
happiness, said Palou artlessly, could not have 
been greater had he received a mitre and been 
promoted to the dignity of a bishop. 

It was near the end of Lent. Jumpero decided to 
wait until after Easter before leaving Majorca. 
Possibly the knowledge that it was the last festival 
he would ever celebrate with his old parents had 
something to do with this decision. Palou returned 
to Palma to arrange for their embarkation. He 
seems to have had difficulty in finding a ship, but 
finally engaged their passage on an English packet 
boat soon to sail for Malaga. 

Fray Jumpero in the meantime preached his last 
sermon in the little town where he was born. He 
bade his friends farewell. He asked and received 
the blessing of his old father and mother. He did 
not tell them his destination. The third day after 
Easter he set out for Palma. When he arrived at 
the convent, seductive overtures were made to him 
by his superiors, to induce him to abandon his 
plans. They would make him guardian, they said, 
although he was young for that honor, and they 
would cause the appointment to be ratified at the 
next meeting of the prelates, which was close at 
hand. But neither this flattering offer nor others 
equally or more tempting were sufficient to induce 
him to give up his missionary project. 


Youth and Early Manhood 


13 


Junipero finally left the city with Palou and 
boarded the English packet boat, which was to 
carry them to Malaga. Before a fair wind the little 
sailing craft flew swiftly out to sea. From its deck 
the two friars gazed upon Majorca’s lovely vine- 
terraced shores, which one of them at least was 
destined never to see again. The voyage lasted 
fifteen days. It proved unexpectedly exciting, 
though far from agreeable. Palou’s account of this 
voyage is graphic, interesting and naive: 

The captain of the vessel was a stubborn, cross- 
grained heretic, and so quarrelsome, that during the 
fifteen days of our passage to Malaga, he gave us not a 
moment’s peace. We scarce had time to read our office 
because of his everlasting desire to argue and wrangle 
over doctrinal points. He understood no language 
save English and a little Portuguese, and in this latter 
he conducted his disputations. Holding the English 
translation of the Bible in his hand, he would read a 
text of the Holy Scriptures and proceed to interpret it 
according to his own whim. But our Fray Junipero was 
so thoroughly instructed and versed in dogmatic the¬ 
ology and in the Holy Scriptures, that he could in an 
instant point out the error and the misinterpretation and 
quote another text to clearly confirm this. The cap¬ 
tain would then search in his greasy old Bible and not 
being able to find anything to prove his point would 
declare the leaf torn or that he could not find the par¬ 
ticular verse he wanted. If another verse was quoted 
he would make the same excuse and although confuted 
and put toi shame over and over again, he remained 
obstinately unconvinced to the last. As a result of his 
constant defeat he became so enraged with us, especially 
with my reverend brother Junipero, for it was he who 


14 


Junipero Serra 

had confounded him, that he frequently threatened to 
pitch us overboard and sail for London. Undoubtedly 
he would have done so but for fear of the consequences, 
for in one of these outbursts I told him frankly that I 
was not in the least afraid, for I had the security of a 
passport, signed by himself, and if he failed to deliver 
us in safety at Malaga, our king would surely demand 
satisfaction from the English government and he would 
have to pay the penalty with his head. Notwithstand¬ 
ing this threat, he became one night so enraged, because 
of a dispute which he had with our Fray Junipero about 
some point of doctrine, that he clapped a dagger to his 
throat with the evident intention of killing him, and if 
he did not do so, it was only because our Lord had 
reserved His servant for a more protracted martyrdom, 
and for the conversion of so many souls, as we shall 
see hereafter.* 

In these controversies Junipero had the advan¬ 
tage of a temper perfectly controlled, and of an 
extraordinary memory. With imperturbable calm 
he could quote text after text from the Scriptures, 
while the irascible English “ heretic ” was rum¬ 
maging in his Bible for a verse he could n’t find. 
That the friar had some twinges regarding his share 
in these fiery encounters is probable, for after the 
captain’s last fit of anger, and when he had shut 
himself in his cabin for a cooling lapse of hours, 
Junipero said to Palou, 

It consoles me that I have never started these dis¬ 
putes — for I consider them time lost — but it seemed 

* Palou, Vida, pp. n-12. 


15 


Youth and Early Manhood 

to me that I had to reply to him for the credit of our 
Catholic religion.* 

There were no further controversies; the cap¬ 
tain’s wrath abated, and a few days later they 
reached Malaga in safety. After a short stay in the 
convent of San Francisco the friars went to Cadiz. 
Here the comisario received them with great 
friendliness. He expressed regret that there were 
hot more applicants to replace the five friars whose 
fear of the great, unknown ocean had so over¬ 
powered their missionary zeal as to cause them to 
withdraw at the last moment. Fray Junipero 
whereupon told him he was confident that among 
the brotherhood in Majorca were several who 
would gladly join the expedition. At the request 
of the comisario he wrote to his friends, Fray 
Rafael Verger, Fray Guillermo Vicens, and Fray 
Juan Crespi, the last a school-friend of Palou’s. 
The names of two of these friars figure prominently 
in the annals of New Spain. Crespi became the 
well known keeper of diaries of early Alta Cali¬ 
fornia days as Palou was her first historian, while 
Verger became the “Father Guardian” of San 
Fernando College in Mexico, a position which 
Palou, later, also occupied. Junipero therefore 
sailed for the New World accompanied by three 
friends whose sympathy, confidence, and hearty co¬ 
operation probably helped to make his Californian 
career so singularly successful. The expedition left 

* Palou, Vida, p. 12. 


16 


Jumpero Serra 

in two detachments. The first carried among 
twenty other priests, Junipero, and Francisca 
Palou. 

Their voyage to Vera Cruz lasted ninety-nine 
days. Before they made their first port, which was 
Porto Rico, they had to endure much suffering 
because of the scarcity of food and water. For two 
weeks, a scant supply of water was doled out once 
in twenty-four hours to every man on board. There 
was a great deal of murmuring, both among the 
priests and the laymen. Fray Junipero alone was 
never heard to complain. His companions inquired 
one day whether he, too, did not suffer from thirst. 
“ My thirst causes me no trouble,” he replied 
serenely. 

When pressed for an explanation he said, “ I 
have found a remedy for this thirst, it is to eat very 
little and to talk less — it does not waste the 
saliva.” * 

We can imagine a sly twinkle in his kindly eye, 
as he gave this reply. The ship left Porto Rico on 
the second of November and a month later sighted 
Vera Cruz, but a furious norther came up and 
drove it towards Campeche. 

The tempest lasted two days. On the night of the 
second day, the fourth of December, the friars gave 
themselves up for lost, and waited the end. Their 
situation was indeed perilous. The crew had 
mutinied; the ship was leaking; the pumps were 


* Palou, Vida, p. 14. 


Youth and Early Manhood 


17 


inadequate; the winds and the waves thundered 
ceaselessly around and above them. 

The tempest was at its height when the morning 
of the third day broke. It was a saint’s day, “ the 
martyred Santa Barbara.” The little band of mis¬ 
sionaries, Dominicans and Franciscans, gathered 
in the cabin. They were to cast their votes and 
determine which saint they should appeal to in this 
hour of peril. They were not long in deciding. 
With one accord they shouted, “ Viva Santa 
Barbara! ” It is recorded by Palou that simulta¬ 
neously with the shout, the storm abated, the wind 
became gentle and benign and blew the ship with¬ 
out further mishap into the harbor of Vera Cruz, 
where they arrived on the sixth of December.* 


* Palou, Vida, p. 16. 





CHAPTER II 


MEXICO CITY AND SIERRA GORDA 
HE port of Vera Cruz was the key to New 



1 Spain. It was guarded by the fortress island, 
San Juan de Ulua, one mile distant from the main¬ 
land. San Juan was at this period of history the 
strongest fort in the New World. It had become 
so through dire necessity. Little more than half a 
century had elapsed since the famous attack on 
Vera Cruz by eight hundred buccaneers, led by the 
handsome, fair-haired devil, Lorencillo. His name 
was still remembered with terror in the town. 
Strangers were told the tale of his landing at dead 
of night and driving from their homes six thousand 
panic-stricken inhabitants, imprisoning them for 
three days in the churches, where the least of their 
sufferings was being deprived of food, water, and 
sufficient air, while the pirates plundered the city. 

With a record like this to Lorencillo’s credit, it 
is interesting to read the eulogy left him by one of 
his admiring fraternity: “his only fault was his 
impatience and a habit of swearing a little too fre¬ 
quently ! ” 

Since the sacking of the city, San Juan de Ulua 
protected itself more formidably with one hundred 


18 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 


19 


twenty mounted guns and three mortars. Vera 
Cruz itself was also strongly fortified. Its walls 
were built of hewn stone and were six feet high, 
surmounted by strong double stockades. Thus safe¬ 
guarded Vera Cruz continued to thrive, though it 
was the most unhealthful city in New Spain. Water 
was scant and poor in quality. The practice of 
burying the dead in church vaults caused a periodi¬ 
cal pestilence to ravage the city, while the exhala¬ 
tions from stagnant swamps in the neighborhood 
produced a malaria called by the inhabitants 
vomito. In the winter it was visited by a violent 
northwest wind, which, though it often blew the 
sand in such clouds as to render breathing difficult, 
was yet of immense sanitary benefit to the city. 
When the ship that carried our voyagers lowered 
her sails under the shadow of the great stone walls 
of the island fort, and was securely fastened by 
cable ropes attached to bolts and lings in the 
masonry, the passengers were transferred in small 
boats to the mainland. 

The missionaries were hospitably received in 
the convents of their respective orders. Their first 
act on arriving was to hold a solemn fiesta in honor 
of Santa Barbara, after which they sought the 
seclusion of the convents for a few days of much 
needed rest. 

But not Junipero. He preached the sermon at 
the fiesta — amazing everyone, Palou declared, by 
his eloquence — and then prepared to push on to 
the City of Mexico without delay. 




20 Jumpero Serra 

It was customary to send missionaries forward 
to their various destinations in some kind of vehicle 
or on horseback, and with the necessary commodi¬ 
ties for the journey. Of this custom Junipero chose 
not to avail himself. He begged permission to 
travel on foot and to start immediately. He was 
quite able, he said, to walk the hundred leagues 
which lay between Vera Cruz and the capital of 
New Spain. There was small chance that such a 
request would meet with a refusal; to grant it was 
to save money furnished from the King’s exchequer 
and money from that source was by no means easy 
to procure. Moreover the years of 1749-50 had 
not been prosperous ones to the inhabitants of New 
Spain. Unusually heavy frosts had destroyed the 
crops, resulting in a famine which spread through¬ 
out the country. In some of the provinces the 
famine had been followed by an epidemic. Nor 
was this all. There had been earthquakes, destruc¬ 
tive ones, and many lives had been lost and entire 
towns destroyed. The religious orders in New 
Spain must have felt severely the effects of these 
calamaties in the depleted state of their treasuries. 
When therefore J unipero expressed not only a will¬ 
ingness, but a desire, to travel as did St. Francis of 
old, without carriage, horse, or provisions, his con¬ 
vent in Vera Cruz made no attempt to dissuade him. 
He was accompanied by a friar from the province 
of Andalusia. Palou did not go with his friend. He 
was probably already feeling that insurmountable 
lassitude which later developed into the malignant 


21 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

fever of the country, and brought him close to 
death’s door. 

The two friars started forth on their journey, 
their sole provisions their breviary and an unlim¬ 
ited faith in Divine Providence. Could St. Fran¬ 
cis himself have done better than this? In the 
populous European countries it required small 
courage for a traveling friar to depend for his sus¬ 
tenance on the mensa domini, or table of the Lord, 
as St. Francis loved to call the bread of charity. 
But in this New World it was an entirely different 
affair. The country was sparsely settled, the 
pueblos were long distances apart and chance trav¬ 
elers few. But these difficulties were as nothing 
to Fray Junipero’s vehement will and courage. He 
went on his way joyfully. The roads were rough, 
the weather at times bitterly cold or intensely hot. 
Without proper preparations to meet these climatic 
variations, without sufficient food, and quite as 
often without water to quench their thirst, the friars 
plodded doggedly on. 

They endured great fatigue and suffered many 
hardships. Junipero’s confidence and courage sus¬ 
tained the drooping spirits of his companion. All 
through his career this is a phase of Junipero’s 
character which stands out most prominently. 
Modest in his scholarly attainments, humble almost 
to excess in his estimate of his character, he yet 
possessed in an extraordinary degree a confidence, 
nay, an iron belief, in his ability to accomplish 
successfully whatever task he undertook. Without 




22 


Junipero Serra 

this belief, no man, it matters not what his inborn 
capacities or opportunities, will attain success; 
while with this belief, even though he be but indif¬ 
ferently gifted by nature, he will rarely fail in 
accomplishing what he has set out to do. In Juni- 
pero this confidence took the fonti most natural 
to a man of his character, training, and fanatical 
religious convictions. He believed in the special 
intercession of Divine Providence in his behalf. 
On his journey to the City of Mexico he was three 
times in imminent danger of perishing from exces¬ 
sive fatigue, starvation, and the inclemency of the 
weather, and was three times relieved by f the 
charitable acts of a stranger whom he unhesitat¬ 
ingly believed to be St. Joseph descended from 
heaven to succor him and his companion.* Some 
years later St. Joseph returned with all the mem¬ 
bers of the Holy Family, for the express purpose of 
procuring the weary friar a good night’s lodging! t 

Before he reached the City of Mexico Junipero’s 
strength failed him completely. His legs became 
swollen from fatigue and sore from innumerable 
mosquito bites. It was with the utmost difficulty 
that he continued his wearisome limping over 
rough roads, under the blazing sun of low lying 
valleys, in the chill of steep and sometimes perilous 
heights. One morning after a heavy, unrefreshing 
sleep, he awakened to find he could not continue 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 18-20. 

t Ibid, p. 40. 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 23 

his journey. His foot and ankle had become griev¬ 
ously inflamed and ulcerated. He chafed under 
the enforced delay when almost in sight of his des¬ 
tination, but gave himself one day of rest, then set 
out again upon his road. During the remainder 
of his life Junipero was never free from wounds on 
his foot and leg brought on by the hardships of this 
journey. 

It was New Year’s morning, 1750, when he 
limped wearily into the City of Mexico, just eight 
months and a half from the day he left Majorca. 

The capital of New Spain was at this time the 
largest and finest city on the American continent. 
It was encircled by a navigable canal which 
answered the twofold purpose of a drain and a 
military defense. The buildings were handsome, 
the architecture peculiarly refined. A certain kind 
of porphyry was employed in the structure which 
imparted an air of solidity and splendor to the city. 
The palace of the viceroy approached in size the 
royal edifices in Madrid, while within the palace, 
more often than not, prevailed a magnificence that 
would not have discredited a European monarch. 
Attached to the palace gardens was a botanical gar¬ 
den famous for the variety and rarity of its plants. 

The residence of the archbishop was a stately pile 
of which an old chronicler said, “ It expressed the 
Luster and the Quality of him that inhabits the 
same.” The paseos, or public promenades, were 
the pride and delight of the people. In no part of 
Spain could their equal in beauty be found. Among 


24 Junipero Serra 

the most famous was the paseo of Atzcapotzaleo. 
It stretched along the banks of the canal, the high 
road for the fruit, flower, and vegetable venders of 
the city. Little canoes filled with brilliant colored 
flowers, with luscious fruits embedded in bowers 
of green leaves and blossoms, floated daily down 
the canal and gave the scene the effect of a per¬ 
petual water carnival. In the afternoon, when the 
capital awoke from its siesta and went abroad the 
paseos were at their brightest. A carnival of gaiety 
reigned. Hundreds of coaches, springless, but 
richly decorated, drawn by two or four horses and 
attended by servants in gorgeous livery, passed one 
another in stately procession. Here all the fashion 
and beauty could be seen. Dark-eyed senoras and 
senoritas, clad in evening gowns glittering with 
jewels, leaned in graceful indolence against the 
cushioned seats of their coaches, or sat erect, viva¬ 
cious, ever ready to be amused, to gossip, to laugh 
at everything, at nothing, to coquette. Magnifi¬ 
cently attired cavaliers on prancing steeds, their 
“ saddles embossed in massive gold or silver and 
fringed with dangling pieces of precious metal, 
which jingle at every step,” threw bold, admiring 
glances into the passing coaches, or with silver 
spur and dainty inlaid whip, made opportunity to 
display their fine horsemanship. It was the joy of 
a fete, a fete recurring daily, always the same, yet 
never palling on those limpid-eyed, luxurious 
women, with slender hands and little feet, and on 
those gaily enamored cavaliers. 


25 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

Even in the preceding century the capital of 
New Spain was known in Europe for its habits of 
gaiety and luxury. The accounts of its wealth and 
extravagance were scarcely exaggerated and 
applied with equal truth to the days when Fray 
Junipero came to Mexico. 

At present Mexico is thought to be one of the richest 
Cities of the World, abounding (if reports be true), in 
all kinds of voluptuous gallantry and bravery, even to 
excess. It is supposed to contain about 6 or 7 miles in 
compass and to consist of above one hundred thousand 
Houses or Families, whereof not the 10th part are 
Spaniards, but those that are, all Gentlemen, at least 
as to their garb and manner of living, for they live most 
splendidly in all respects both for Diet and Apparel. It 
is no extraordinary matter to see an Hat-band or Role 
all of Diamonds, in some ordinary Gentleman’s Hat, 
and of Pearl among the common Citizens and Trades¬ 
men. The Coaches (which most Gentlemen keep) 
almost all covered with Gold & Silver; richly beset with 
Precious Stones and within lin’d with Cloth of Gold, 
or the best China Silk that can be gotten, of which 
Coaches, in time of year, at the Alameda, as they call 
it, which is, as it were, The Hide-Park of Mexico, and 
a place made of purpose for recreation and delight, a 
Man shall observe not seldom, above a thousand or two 
thousand Coaches full of Ladies and Gallants coming 
thither only to take the Air, and their Pleasure, both the 
one end and the other attended with a numerous Train 
of Servants and Mulatoes of both sexes.* 

The capital presented the two extremes of society 
somewhat markedly, in fact, it bristled with sharp 

* America. From the Royal Copy of Charles II. 


26 


Junipero Serra 

contrasts. There were lazy, improvident natives, 
who, when not begging or lounging around shops 
where pulque was sold, were lying in the pleasant 
warmth of the sun, their only garment a square 
blanket scarcely sufficient to cover their nakedness. 
There were also the indigent sick, lured often from 
long distances to the capital, in quest of aid from 
the many hospitals, which the liberality of the rich 
supported. And there were the half-naked huck¬ 
sters swarming around wretched booths of cane 
and rushes, shouting out their wares or exchanging 
jocose greetings with one another. All these served 
as a striking contrast to the luxurious display of the 
upper classes. 

We do not know what effect the splendor of this 
New World capital had on Fray Junipero, but it 
seems improbable that he was not impressed with 
the number and grandeur of the churches in the 
city. The great cathedral occupying the same site 
where some two hundred fifty odd years before 
stood the sinister temple of the Aztec war god, was 
then, as now, the most magnificent structure in 
Mexico. Here was placed the wonderful image of 
“ Our Lady of the Assumption,” wrought of gold 
and supported by four golden angels, and the image 
of “ Our Lady of Conception,” made of pure silver 
which had been presented to the cathedral by the 
rich silversmiths of Mexico. Junipero had at an 
early hour that morning said his prayers in the 
church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He may have 
lingered afterwards to gaze about in the vaulted 


27 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

twilight of the interior; for this was the church the 
haughty viceroy Montanez, had been so zealous to 
complete that he had, himself, solicited alms in the 
streets of the capital — a spectacle rendered par¬ 
ticularly edifying from his lordship’s regal habit 
of driving in a carriage drawn by six magnificent 
horses. Had it been the hour of mass, Fray Juni- 
pero might have seen well-fed, or over-fed women 
leisurely sipping chocolate, for even in church they 
would not abstain from indulging themselves in 
their favorite beverage. A certain bold bishop in 
Chiapas, it is said, attempted to stop this singular 
custom. He was poisoned for his pains. This is 
the origin of the saying, “ Beware of Chiapas choc¬ 
olate.” 

When Junipero reached the college of San Fer¬ 
nando, all the friars were at prayers in the church. 
He appears to have been struck with the fervor of 
their devotions, for he afterward exclaimed to his 
companion, the monk from Andalusia, “ To become 
a member of such a pious community is alone worth 
all the pain and fatigue I have suffered.” * 

The guardian of the college received Fray Juni¬ 
pero with marked distinction. The monks were 
eager to show their regard for one whose reputa¬ 
tion for piety, scholarship, and eloquence had 
already preceded his arrival in their midst. One 
of the older monks exclaimed as he embraced him, 
“ Oh, for a forest of Juniperos! ” 


* Palou, Vida, p. 21. 


28 


Junipero Serra 

“Not of my kind, reverend brother,” returned 
Junipero; “ rather beg for a forest of a very differ¬ 
ent variety.” * 

This humility was not a cloak to cover deep 
seated pride, for neither guile nor hypocrisy lodged 
under Fray Junipero’s cowl. The mental attitude 
of those who have penetrated farthest into the king¬ 
dom of knowledge is invariably one of deep humil¬ 
ity at the littleness of their advance into the vast 
realm lying unexplored before them, and the moral 
attitude of those whose ideals are the noblest, whose 
spiritual aims are the highest, is one of profound 
humility of heart that they are so far from attaining 
the gospel perfection for which they strive. 

Fray Junipero was at this time about thirty-seven 
years old. In stature he was of medium height; 
his features were small and delicate; his figure 
slender; it did not suggest great muscular strength, 
nor that extraordinary power of endurance which 
distinguished him in his missionary career. He 
was very diffident when in the company of stran¬ 
gers. His manners were simple and uniformly kind, 
his bearing humble; yet there was an air of resolu¬ 
tion about him which inspired confidence. He was 
always serious, so much so, that he appeared stern, 
even gloomy. But when he spoke his expression 
became gentle, sweet, and so attractive that all 
hearts warmed towards him.t Such a character 

* Palou, Vida, p. 21. 

t Ibid., p. 311. 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 29 

was calculated to gain the trust and devotion of his 
brethren in the distant missions where he later 
labored. 

Junipero spent five months in the college of San 
Fernando. They were quiet, restful months, occu¬ 
pied with the performance of his religious duties. 
Yet he was not altogether happy. He had taken 
the long journey to Mexico to labor among the 
Indians, not to remain in safe tranquility in the lux¬ 
urious capital of New Spain. One holiday evening 
when the friars were strolling in the pleasant paths 
of the monastery orchard, accompanied by the 
Father Guardian, the latter let it be known that he 
was seeking missionaries for the remote and craggy 
regions of the Sierra Gordas. Instantly Junipero 
turned to him. 

Ecce ego, mitte me, he exclaimed with ardor.* 

Inspired by his enthusiasm, many others offered 
their services. It was soon apparent that the Sierra 
Gorda missions would no longer lack for ministers, 
as had hitherto been the case. The law did not 
require a friar to serve as missionary against his 
will, and the Sierra Gordas had never been a favor¬ 
ite mission field. The Pames Indians in this moun¬ 
tainous region had been difficult to conquer. They 
were a bold, belligerent people, long a terror to the 
colonists in that part of the country. They made 
marauding raids into the very streets of the Spanish 
settlements; they burnt the churches and destroyed 


* Palou, Vida, p. 22. 


30 Jumpero Serra 

the missions. The long-continued efforts of the 
militia to subdue these savages were only in part 
successful. Finally Jose de Escandon, an officer 
in the Queretaro militia, was commissioned with 
the difficult task of pacification. A man of great 
nobility and integrity of character, Escandon was 
also a man of wealth and maintained his troops at 
his own expense. He was a strict disciplinarian 
and never permitted excesses. He appears to have 
accomplished the subjugation of the Sierra Gorda 
Indians successfully and in so humane a spirit that 
the vanquished savages gave him their confidence 
and friendship. After this wild region was 
brought, at last, under Spanish control, one would 
naturally suppose that missionary labors would 
make favorable progress. But this was far from 
true. The climate of the Sierra Gorda was humid 
and unhealthful. Devices to preserve health were 
unknown or not practicable. After short services 
the missionaries sickened and were obliged to retire 
to the hospital of their college in Queretaro. It 
became customary later to recall the missionaries 
every six months and send others in their places. 

This method was not successful, for the friars, 
because of their short stay among the Indians, had 
no time to learn the native language, which was a 
great hindrance to spiritual conquest. In temporal 
matters they were equally unsuccessful. The mis¬ 
sions, far from being self-supporting were unable to 
furnish maintenance sufficient even for the mission¬ 
aries. It was necessary to forward provisions reg- 


31 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

ularly to keep the neophytes from deserting. This 
was particularly true of the missions Santiago de 
Xalpan, Purisima Concepcion, and two or three 
others. 

Such was the condition of affairs there when 
Junipero offered his services. Palou had arrived 
in the capital, recuperated from the fever that had 
so nearly cost him his life. He volunteered with 
his friend to labor among the Pames Indians. 
Accordingly, the two set out one morning in early 
June from San Fernando College for the mission 
of Santiago de Xalpan, situated in a remote spot 
among the crags of the Sierra Gordas. They made 
the journey on foot, although Junipero was suffer¬ 
ing from the condition of his foot and ankle, and 
although saddle mules had been provided for them. 
The rule prohibiting riding had long been obsolete 
in the order, while even in the early days of the Fri¬ 
ars Minor, the brethren were permitted to ride on 
occasions of manifest necessity or under stress of 
infirmity. But Junipero outdid the “penitents” 
themselves who gathered around St. Francis at 
Portiuncola, in the severity of his deprivations. He 
had a fanatical contempt for his body, which was 
more than medieval, and which later in his career 
had, we suspect, something to do with the antago¬ 
nism he encountered among the military officials in 
California. 

On the 16th of June the friars arrived at Santiago 
de Xalpan, and were received, said Palou, with 
gratifying rejoicings by the neophytes. Junipero 


32 


Junipero Serra 

promptly set to work to learn the language of the 
Pames Indians. Having accomplished this, he 
translated into Pames the prayers and doctrines of 
the Catholic church. He acquired the Indian 
tongue only after great perseverance and hard 
work. He did not possess the faculty of learning 
easily strange languages. In later years his lin¬ 
guistic troubles increased, and he spent many hours 
in the effort to overcome them. 

He was indefatigable in temporal affairs as in 
spiritual matters; he appears to have managed the 
former so well that, under his administration, the 
mission became not only self-supporting but 
extremely prosperous. He possessed an executive 
ability of high order, was full of resource, of pru¬ 
dence, of acumen. The value of his services were 
soon recognized, and the Guardian of San Fer¬ 
nando offered him the presidency of the Sierra 
Gorda missions. Junipero, who all during his long 
life remained perfectly indifferent to worldly hon¬ 
ors, declined the appointment. A year and a half 
later, the Guardian again sent him a Patente de las 
Missiones and on this occasion insisted so strongly 
upon an acceptance that Junipero could not refuse. 
He retained the position, however, for three years 
only, then resigned. 

“ If this office is an honor,” he said, “ then let 
the others share in the honor also — likewise if it 
is a burden,” he added with that touch of dry humor 
which he occasionally displayed.* 

* Palou, Vida, p. 294. 


33 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

His life in the Sierra Gordas covered a period of 
nine arduous years of unremitting labor. His 
abilities finally caused him to be recalled by the 
Guardian of San Fernando College, to Mexico, in 
order to take charge of some missions of the Rio 
Saba in Texas, among the warlike Apache nation. 
He obeyed with alacrity, although knowing the 
fate which had overtaken the last president of the 
missions. The acceptance of a charge of this nature 
remained always voluntary even after the appoint¬ 
ment was made by the Guardian. But Fray Juni- 
pero was not the man to shrink from such a trust. 
He hastened to Mexico to receive his instructions. 
Before he arrived however, the Government had 
decided to send out a punitive expedition, and 
instead of going to Texas, Junipero was retained 
in the college. He remained there seven years, 
preaching in the capital, holding missions in the 
surrounding bishoprics, and performing the duties 
of his office of comisario of the Inquisition, to 
which he was appointed in 1752.* Of his connec¬ 
tion with the Inquisition little is known besides the 
bare fact itself. It is probable that his duties of 
comisario were not of great importance. The priv¬ 
ileges of the Inquisition had been so curtailed by the 
reigning monarch, Carlos III, that it not only was 
no longer the dreaded power of former days, but, 
like a mortally wounded giant, was gasping for 
life. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 46. 


34 


Junipero Serra 

It was during this period that we first hear of 
Fray Junipero as a sensational preacher. His ser¬ 
mons were now fervent exhortations to repentance. 
He scourged himself in the pulpit on his bared 
shoulders with an iron chain. He besought his 
auditors to examine into their own consciences and 
repent their sins. Every cut of the chain on his 
quivering flesh was a cry to repent. The emotional 
power of the masses is always great. Junipero’s 
auditors were thrilled to the depths of their hearts; 
they sobbed and cried aloud. One day a man among 
them, unable longer to endure the sight of the cruel 
whipping Fray Junipero was giving himself, 
rushed to the pulpit, seized the chain from the 
friar’s hand, and taking his stand in the chancel, 
stripped himself to the waist and, while unmerci¬ 
fully applying the chain to his own shoulders, 
exclaimed, “ I am the ungrateful sinner, who 
should do penance for my many sins, and not the 
padre who is a saint.” 

So great was the force of the blows he dealt 
himself that he fell exhausted. He lived only long 
enough to receive the sacrament, and then expired.* 
Among other methods of self-chastisement that 
Junipero employed was beating his bared breast 
with a stone, while holding aloft in his left hand a 
crucifix. This was called “ the act of contrition.” 
The severity of the blows he dealt himself caused 
many to fear he would fall dead in the pulpit. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 44. 


35 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 

Often when he spoke of purgatory and the pains of 
hell, he would light a large taper having four wicks 
and place the burning wax next to his skin, holding 
it there until the smell of the scorched flesh reached 
his terror stricken audience.* 

It was not only in public that Junipero chastised 
himself. In the still hours of night, he often 
slipped from his cell and sought a remote corner in 
the choir gallery where he scourged himself with 
his chain. Sometimes the sound of the blows pene¬ 
trated to the cells of the slumbering monks and 
awakened them. The most curious of their number 
then would creep to the gallery to discover the 
penitent, and, recognizing Junipero, would steal 
softly back again, filled with wonder. Not satis¬ 
fied with these self-inflicted chastisements, Juni¬ 
pero habitually wore under his friar’s frock a 
rough haircloth tunic, upon which were fastened 
small pieces of copper. 

This scourging, chain-lashing, and self-torturing 
to which he resorted, partly to impress his hearers, 
partly to crush what he calls the “ beast” in his 
own frail body, is repulsive to contemplate, and 
seems to smack more of the thirteenth century than 
the eighteenth. 

It is a relief to turn from these harsh pictures to 
the charming one Palou gives us of the vigils Juni¬ 
pero kept, even in his sleep. 

In leisure hours when he rested and slept his heart 


* Palou, Vida, p. 262. 


36 


Junipero Serra 

seemed to remain awake to glorify God and to pray, for 
frequently when we slept together in camp or hut I 
would be awakened by hearing him repeat the sweet 
words: Gloria Patri Filio Spiritui Sancto, and I would 
ask, Padre, tiene alguna novedadf (Father, is anything 
the matter?) and receiving no reply, I knew well that 
he slept.* 

His intercourse with the outside world was 
strictly confined to his duties as priest and mission¬ 
ary. During his long residence in the capital, he 
was never known to make a social visit. This was 
not because worldly life was irksome to him, for 
he was totally unfamiliar with it, but because he 
moved and dwelt on a different plane from most 
men. His religion was alive, a glowing spark 
burning in the depths of his soul; it was his one 
great passion in life. A certain sweetness in his 
character, combined with his integrity, secured him 
the stanch friendship of many men. But women 
never saw the warmer, more gracious side of his 
character. In his intercourse with them he 
remained habitually unsmiling, even stern, restrict¬ 
ing his conversation to recounting edifying inci¬ 
dents in the lives of saints, which were intended 
to inculcate lessons of sobriety,t a trait the worthy 
friar seems to have considered absent from the 
average feminine bosom. 

His habits were well known in the capital. When 
those who sought him failed to find him behind the 

* Palou, Vida, p. 313. 

t Ibid., p. 311. 


Mexico City and Sierra Gorda 


37 


monastery walls, they knew without making inquiry 
that he had left the city to preach in the bishoprics. 

His journeys were not always easy or devoid of 
an element of danger, as when, on his way to 
Oaxaca, he and his companions traveled eight days 
in a canoe on the River Miges. They dared not 
venture on shore to stretch their cramped limbs or 
to escape the terrible heat of the sun in the shade of 
dense and perfumed forests, because of the “ lions 
and tigers,” (probably the puma and jaguar) 
which could be seen lurking near the banks. These 
trials were accentuated by the bites of venomous 
insects to which they were exposed.* When they 
reached the first inhabited portion of that wild 
region, they were in a state bordering on complete 
exhaustion. 

Many stories are told of Junipero in the various 
provinces where he held his missions. These stories 
are interesting in so far as they serve to throw addi¬ 
tional light on the character of a man destined to 
occupy the most prominent place in California 
history. 

On one occasion he had a narrow escape from 
death while in church. The communion wine had 
in some inexplicable manner been poisoned and 
Junipero became violently ill. He was carried to 
the sacristy, placed on a couch, and his vestments 
hurriedly removed. All who saw him believed he 
would die. When his condition became known, a 


* Palou, Vida, p. 45. 


38 


Jumpero Serra 


certain caballero of the parish hastily brought an 
antidote. Junipero, turning his head aside, reso¬ 
lutely refused to swallow the antidote. Later, when 
he recovered, he explained apologetically to the 
well-intentioned caballero the reason of his refusal: 

In truth, senor brother, it was not because I doubted 
the efficacy of your medicine, nor because it was 
nauseous, for under other circumstances I would have 
swallowed it; but because I had just taken holy com¬ 
munion; and how could you desire that after such divine 
food I could take a drink so vile ? I knew immediately 
of what it was composed, because you brought it in a 
crystal goblet.* 

While these missions were in progress there 
occurred one of those events which mark a strange 
epoch in the history of the Roman Catholic church, 
namely, the total temporary extinction of the most 
powerful, most influential of its organizations. As 
this extraordinary event had a direct bearing on 
Fray Junipero’s future career, it will not be out of 
place to devote a little attention to it. 

4 


* Palou, Vida, pp. 50-51. 


CHAPTER III 


THE EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS 

I N THE middle of the eighteenth century the 
famous Society of Jesus comprised about twenty 
thousand members. They could be found in all 
parts of the world. There was not a country, no 
matter how remote, or difficult of access, where the 
silent-footed Jesuit was not busily at work. The 
society possessed immense wealth; it controlled to a 
large extent the education of youths in many coun¬ 
tries; among its members were the confessors of 
kings and princes; it exerted a powerful political 
influence in the civil administration of Catholic 
countries. The Jesuits were, in fact, at the height of 
their power and their fame when their downfall 
was decreed. The causes that brought this about 
were many and varied, but among them may be 
mentioned the accusation that the Jesuits converted 
their missionary stations into commercial centers 
and conducted bold speculations, more lucrative to 
their order than to their country. They were also 
accused of avoiding the payment of tithes by false 
representations of the conditions of their missions 
— a fact which the Franciscan friars first brought 
to the attention of Spanish royalty. The storm was 
long in brewing. 


40 


Junipero Serra 

In France Madame de Pompadour assisted mate¬ 
rially to expedite their downfall. She was their 
bitter enemy, a fact which, it has been observed, 
was perhaps more creditable to them than other¬ 
wise. Her hatred of them was no doubt due to the 
firmness with which the Jesuit confessor of Louis 
XV. refused the king absolution unless the Pompa¬ 
dour were dismissed from court. Nor did the soci¬ 
ety find so stanch an ally in Marie Therese as it 
might well have expected, for she had been edu¬ 
cated by Jesuits and was one of their ardent admir¬ 
ers. Yet we find the Austrian empress writing to 
the youthful Marie Antoinette, her daughter, this 
cautious advice: 

II me reste encore un point par rapport aux Jesuites. 
N’ entrez dans aucun discours, ni pour, ni contre eux. 
Je vous permets de me citer et de dire que j’ ai exige 
de vous de n’ en parler ni en bien ni en mal: que vous 
savez que je les estime, que dans mes pays ils ont fait 
grand bien, que je serais fachee de les perdre, mais que 
si la cour de Rome croit devoir abolir cet ordre, je n ’y 
mettrais aucun empechment.* 

* There is one thing more I would mention and this 
concerns the Jesuits. Do not engage in conversation 
either for or against them. You may quote me as saying 
that I did not wish you to speak of them either favorably 
or unfavorably; that you know and esteem them, that 
they have done much good in my countries that I should 
be sorry to lose them but if the court of Rome thinks it 
right to abolish this order I should make no objection. 

*Correspondence Secrete entre Marie Therese et 
le Cte De Mercy-Argenteau. Vol. I, pp. 5-6. 


41 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 

As a matter of fact, the sagacity of the queen 
could not but recognize the menace to the states in 
the Jesuits’ thirst for power, and in the manifold 
strifes and disturbances of which they were the 
cause. 

But strangely enough, it was in the Spanish Pen¬ 
insula, where their dominion seemed too firmly 
established ever to be uprooted, that the most 
powerful blow was dealt the order. Carlos III. of 
Spain issued a mandate for the expulsion from his 
dominions in Europe, Asia, and America, of all 
the members of the Society of Jesus. It was further 
decreed that any Jesuit who should, without the 
king’s express leave, return to Spanish dominions 
under any pretext whatever, even that of having 
resigned from the society and being absolved from 
the vows, would be treated as a proscript, incurring, 
if a layman, the penalty of death, and, if a priest, 
that of confinement at the option of the ordinaries. 

It was in the summer of 1767 that the Jesuits in 
New Spain learned of the calamity that had over¬ 
taken their order. They numbered in the provinces 
678 members, of whom over half were natives of 
America, who had never been beyond the confines 
of their country. To be suddenly driven into exile, 
and without adequate means of support, to be 
deserted in this extremity by the Pope himself, who, 
fearing the burden of maintaining so many poverty 
stricken priests, forbade them to seek shelter in his 
dominions, was, indeed, a bitter hardship. 

The carrying out of the king’s mandate in the 


42 


Jumpero Serra 

provinces of New Spain fell to the lot of the Mar¬ 
quis de Croix, who had been appointed viceroy the 
previous year. He was reputed an upright, able 
man, with a pronounced liking for the delicacies of 
the table and good wine, of which latter there was a 
remarkably fine supply in the viceregal cellar. 
That he was bold and swift of resource in emerg¬ 
encies, the following anecdote related of him, while 
he was still in Spain, will show. He had incurred 
the disapproval of the Inquisition and was sum¬ 
moned suddenly to appear before that dreaded tri¬ 
bunal. He obeyed the summons, but, as he was 
holding command at the time, he took the precau¬ 
tion of bringing with him a squad of soldiers and 
fourteen cannon. He stationed his men around 
the inquisitorial building, and gave orders that if 
more than fifteen minutes elapsed from the time he 
entered the building until he reappeared again, 
they were to fire upon and demolish the entire 
structure. The Inquisitors evidently deemed it 
prudent not to detain the doughty soldier. He was 
dismissed “ con muchas zalemas y carabanas * 

It may be that he was not averse to complying to 
the letter with his royal master’s commands in 
regard to the expulsion of the Jesuits from New 
Spain, for he appears to have done so in a most 
thorough manner. He invited the audencia to 
come to the palace for the purpose of conferring on 
confidential state matters of importance. It was an 


* Bancroft, History of Mexico. 


43 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 

evening late in June when the meeting took place. 
The scene was not without a touch of the dramatic. 
Facing the audencia, De Croix produced a sealed 
package. He opened it; within was a second pack¬ 
age, also sealed. Upon this was written, “ Under 
penalty of death you will not open this despatch till 
the 24th of June at nightfall.” Within the package 
was the royal order for the expulsion of the Jesuits 
from the provinces, together with minute instruc¬ 
tions concerning the methods to be employed in 
their arrest, even naming the men to whom this 
task should be given. A third envelope contained 
the following: 

I invest you with my whole authority and royal 
power that you shall forthwith repair with an armed 
force to the houses of the Jesuits. You will seize the 
persons of all of them and despatch them within 
twenty-four hours as prisoners to the port of Vera 
Cruz, where they will be embarked on vessels pro¬ 
vided for that purpose. At the very moment of such 
arrest you will cause to be sealed the records of said 
houses and the papers of such persons, without allow¬ 
ing them to remove anything but their prayer books 
and such garments as are absolutely necessary for the 
journey. If after the embarkation there should be 
found in that district a single Jesuit even if ill or dying 
you shall suffer the penalty of death. Yo el Rey* 

If the viceroy required an incentive to do his 
work thoroughly, he undoubtedly received it in the 
last clause of this royal mandate. De Croix decided 

* Bancroft, History of Mexico, Vol. Ill, p. 439. 


44 


Jumpero Serra 

to act at daybreak the following morning. Rumors 
of what was to occur reached the populace. Great 
indignation was everywhere expressed. The masses 
were disposed actively to assist the padres in fight¬ 
ing arrest. Whatever may have been the reputa¬ 
tion of the Jesuits in Europe, or the dislike and 
distrust entertained for them there, in New Spain 
they appeared to have possessed the sympathy of 
the people. But the viceroy was prepared to meet 
any outbreak on the part of the populace. He sta¬ 
tioned soldiers at street corners where the arrests 
had been made. The Jesuits were kept imprisoned 
in their houses until preparations were completed 
for their deportation. The people were told to 
disperse quietly and “ that they were born to obey 
and hold their peace,” a piece of information that 
had the effect of exasperating them to the extent of 
secretly planning a revolt against Spain, but its 
premature disclosure caused the revolt to be 
crushed before it was fully ripe. 

June 28, the Jesuits were placed in coaches and 
with a strong guard to accompany them sent to 
Vera Cruz. The people flocked, weeping, around 
their carriages to say farewell. In some of the 
towns through which they passed their entry resem¬ 
bled a triumphant procession. The crowds that 
gathered to do them honor were so dense that the 
soldiers were frequently obliged to use the butt end 
of their muskets to force an opening for the coaches. 
When they finally arrived in Vera Cruz they had 
to wait before embarking until their Jesuit brothers 


45 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 

from more distant lying provinces joined them. 
While they were detained here, thirty-two of their 
number died. 

But it was in Baja California, that the order of 
expulsion occasioned the greatest hardship and 
sorrow among the Jesuits, and excited the greatest 
interest among the officials in Spain. In 1697 
Jesuits had received the royal consent to enter that 
country at their own risk and expense; the king 
was not disposed to lend financial assistance to the 
occupation of a barren, unattractive peninsula. Yet 
the necessity of establishing a post in California 
for the protection of the Manila trade had always 
been apparent to the government. The plundering 
cruises of the English were of alarming frequency. 
The Jesuits therefore, in undertaking the occu¬ 
pancy of the country and the subjugation of the 
natives, rendered a great service to the Spanish 
government, whose own attempts in this direc¬ 
tion had invariably resulted in failures. Under the 
direction of the celebrated Father Kino, the Jesuits 
went enthusiastically to work to raise money to enter 
and establish themselves in the peninsula. The first 
recorded contribution was $20,000 from Don Juan 
Caballero y Ozio, and enormous sums from the 
Marquis de Villa Puente, one of Spain’s great phi¬ 
lanthropists, who, during his lifetime, gave away 
unostentatiously his entire wealth in the cause of his 
country, Christianity, and charity. From these and 
other private sources the Society of Jesus received 
such generous contributions that the famous fondo 


46 


Junipero Serra 

piadoso de California was established. This fund 
was of great service in later years to the Francis¬ 
cans in Upper California. 

The policy of the Jesuits in Baja California, had 
always been a more or less exclusive one. This 
gave rise to fantastic stories of immense wealth 
found in the peninsula and jealously guarded by 
the fathers. Exaggerated reports of the extent and 
richness of the pearl fisheries on the coast were 
freely circulated. The fact that California had 
supplied the Spanish crown with its richest pearls 
lent credence to the reports. Indeed, from the first 
settlement of Baja California, to the time of the 
expulsion of the fathers, the greatest troubles the 
Jesuits had to contend with were primarily due to 
the finding of pearls on the coast of the barren 
peninsula, and the subsequent traffic in them. 
Adventurers flocked over from the mainland in 
quest of these greatly prized gems; they had the 
Indians dive for them, voluntarily if they would, 
if not, under compulsion. The Indians waxed angry 
at this treatment, then belligerent. All this gave the 
padres unending trouble, even frequently endanger¬ 
ing their lives. On the other hand, the adventurers 
carried away complaints against the Jesuits because 
of the obstacles they put in the way of the pearl 
traffic. 

Father Venegas long ago wrote: 

The many violences committed by the adventurers 
to satiate if possible their covetous temper have occa¬ 
sioned reciprocal complaints; nor will they ever cease 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 47 

while the desire of riches, that bane of society, predom¬ 
inates in the human breast. 

The Spaniards’ greed of gain in the New World 
had not materially changed since the days when 
Cortes told the Aztec chief that “ the Spaniards 
were troubled with a disease of the heart for which 
gold was a specific remedy.” 

The disinterested motives of these Jesuit mis¬ 
sionaries is fully shown by a law, which, after great 
difficulty, they succeeded in having passed. It 
prohibited inhabitants of California, including 
themselves and those under their control, not only 
from diving for pearls but from trafficking in them. 
While the law did not interfere with the rights of 
those who came over from the mainland to fish for 
pearls, it served as an excellent object lesson to the 
Indians, and taught them that the padres were not 
amongst them for reasons covetous or selfish. The 
conduct of the Jesuit missionaries in Baja Califor¬ 
nia, was, throughout, worthy of deepest admiration. 
While they bent all their energies towards Chris¬ 
tianizing the natives and teaching them the useful 
arts of civilization, they did not forget the inter¬ 
ests of science and learning. Whatever would fur¬ 
ther human knowledge in their observation, they 
noted and chronicled. One hundred years after 
their expulsion, all that was accurately known of 
the geography, natural history, geology, and cli¬ 
matic conditions of the barren land was gathered 
from the documents of these scholarly and indus¬ 
trious men. 


48 Junipero Serra 

Nevertheless their rule in California was based 
on principles which can be regarded only as per¬ 
nicious in the extreme. It was not beneficial for any 
society, not even the most barbaric, to be subject to 
the rule of a class of men who have despotic power 
over life and liberty and who are responsible to no 
one for their actions. Yet such was the character 
of the Jesuit sway in Baja California. The Indians 
in the missions had no rights, privileges, or justice, 
save such as the fathers chose to give them. Their 
condition differed in no respect from that of Afri¬ 
can slaves, except that their Jesuit masters were, in 
the main, conscientious, pure minded, pious men. 
To realize more fully the extent of the Jesuit power 
in California, it is only necessary to add that the 
soldiers forming the mission guards were enlisted 
at the expense of the fathers. To be sure, the enlist¬ 
ment was in the king’s name, and the soldiers were 
considered to be in the royal army, but as they were 
dependent upon the Jesuits for their pay and could 
be discharged by them for disobedience of orders 
and also were under command of an officer chosen 
by the fathers, it may be said that the little army 
in the peninsula was entirely controlled by the mis¬ 
sionaries, who practically owned the barren coun¬ 
try and its miserable natives. 

When the Jesuits were expelled from California 
it was believed that they had discovered rich mines 
from which they derived immense wealth. The 
king, it was said, expected to amass four millions 
of dollars from the spoliation of the padres. 


49 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 

Instead of four millions, however, less than one 
hundred was found in their coffers. This fact 
caused not a little spicy amusement to some of the 
worthy fathers when they left California. As a 
matter of fact, the country’s resources in every par¬ 
ticular were slight. The soil was so poor the fathers 
had trouble raising crops sufficient for the needs 
of their neophytes and themselves. In many of the 
missions the little garden patches on rocky hillsides 
had been made only after infinite toil, the earth 
having been transported by hand from places where 
there was soil but no water. 

Don Gaspar de Portola was appointed to the 
newly made office of governor of California in 
order that he should personally superintend the 
expulsion. 

Retaining undoubtedly a vivid remembrance of 
Jesuit conduct in Paraguay in 1753, the Spanish 
government took precautions, the extent of which 
would otherwise appear not only excessive but even 
ludicrous. Portola was given command of fifty 
soldiers to expel fifteen Jesuit missionaries. He 
was ordered to observe the greatest secrecy regard¬ 
ing his movements, to effect a speedy and stealthy 
landing in the peninsula, and, by taking the Jesuits 
unawares, take them unprepared. It was feared 
by the authorities that the fathers would offer 
resistance and arm their neophytes. But the great¬ 
est fear was lest the Jesuits, receiving timely warn¬ 
ing of the fate in store for them, would hide the 
treasures they were confidently believed to possess. 


50 


Jumpero Serra 

Portola reached Loreto in December, 1768. He 
was amazed to find so barren a country — a country 
which has been aptly described as “ a mountain 
chain, the bald, rocky, barren ridges of which alone 
have risen above or are not yet sunken beneath the 
waters of the ocean and gulf.” 

In this peninsula, extending about seven hundred 
miles from its southern extremity to the point where 
it joins upper California, there was not a river, 
unless the few small rivulets, flushed in the rainy 
seasons, could be so called. “ Nothing was so com¬ 
mon in (Baja) California, as rocks and thorn 
bushes, nothing so rare as moisture, wood and cool 
shade.” * 

After examining the reported wealthy mines in 
the peninsula and discovering that they were not 
worth the working, Portola became not only con¬ 
vinced of the absurdity of the romantic tales of 
hidden wealth, but also of the disinterested motives 
which had actuated the Jesuit fathers in this land. 

He addressed a letter to the president of the mis¬ 
sions, inclosing the order of expulsion. No resist¬ 
ance was offered. At each mission the Jesuits bade 
farewell to their neophytes, and with heavy hearts 
departed for Loreto. They were often accompan¬ 
ied long distances on their way by the weeping 
Indians. One of the fathers who had spent seven¬ 
teen years of his life in mission work in the penin¬ 
sula wrote afterwards, “ Not only did I weep then, 

* Hittell, History of California, I, p. 260. 


The Expulsion of the Jesuits 51 

but throughout the journey, and even now as I 
write the tears stand in my eyes.” 

The affection of the padres and neophytes for one 
another was doubtless perfectly sincere. The 
Indians were fed, cared for, and protected by a 
little band of men whose sole desire was to bring 
them into the fold of the church and keep them 
there for their souls’ salvation. For over half a 
century they had labored faithfully in this dreary 
land. Many of them had grown old in their mis¬ 
sions, and when they left, they experienced the 
heartaches of those who leave their homes forever. 

When the fathers arrived at Loreto, the order of 
expulsion was read to them. They said a farewell 
prayer for their Indians and for themselves; then 
under cover of the night, to avoid a demonstration, 
they marched with bowed heads and heavy hearts 
to the beach. But in spite of this precaution, a 
crowd of neophytes had assembled. With cries 
and lamentations they kissed the friendly hands 
that had toiled for them so many years. They 
besought the padres not to desert them. The scene 
was a touching one. Even the governor shed tears. 
The exiled missionaries stepped into the boat and, 
standing erect, chanted the litany of Our Lady. 
Their voices rang out through the night and 
reached the weeping neophytes on the beach. It 
was the Jesuit fathers’ last farewell to California 
and her children. 


CHAPTER IV 


MISSIONS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA 

T HERE can be little doubt that the Franciscans 
had information of the royal decree expelling 
the Jesuits, even before the society itself knew of its 
downfall. The feeling between the two orders was 
not a friendly one. The Franciscans had been the 
first to accuse the Jesuits of obtaining partial 
immunity from taxation by false representations 
and had carried their accusation to Madrid. When 
the scheme of destruction of the society was being 
formulated, the Franciscans in New Spain quietly 
made arrangements to fill the places of the Jesuits, 
and before Portola and his soldiers had embarked 
to cross the gulf to California, they were fully pre¬ 
pared to administer the missions there. Therefore 
as soon as they were officially invited to take charge 
of the peninsular establishments, they accepted, 
and promptly appointed sixteen friars from the San 
Fernando college to proceed to Loreto. Junipero 
was at this time holding a mission in the province 
of Mesquital, some thirty leagues from the capital. 
The Guardian summoned him to return. It was 
not until his arrival in the college that he learned 
of his appointment as president of the California 
missions. The coaches were in readiness for the 


52 


Missions in Lower California 53 

long journey to the coast. To his great joy, he 
found that his two friends, Francisco Palou and 
Juan Crespi, had volunteered to serve with him in 
the distant mission field. After receiving the bene¬ 
diction of the Guardian and bidding farewell to 
all their brother friars, the travelers entered the 
coaches. A great crowd had assembled to see them 
off. In those days it was almost as much of an 
undertaking to go to California from Mexico as 
it was to go from Mexico to Spain. 

After thirty-nine days of difficult traveling, part 
of the way under sweltering skies, through an 
unhealthful country, the friars arrived at Tepic. 
Here Junipero was told that the vessel on which 
they were to embark was not in readiness. Having 
ascertained that the delay would be a matter of 
months, he immediately determined that the inter¬ 
lude should not be passed in idleness by himself 
or his friars. He organized a series of missions to 
be held in the neighboring districts. This work 
occupied them until the following March, when 
they finally embarked from San Bias on a small 
transport with a long name, la Purisima Concep¬ 
cion de Maria Santisima* It was night when the 
friars went on board, and it was night — the night 
of Good Friday — when they arrived in the road¬ 
stead off Loreto. It had taken them twenty days 
to cross the gulf. 

Loreto in 1768 was a wretched, half-ruined little 


* Palou’s Noticias, Vol. I, p. 16. 


54 


Junipero Serra 

place, distinguished mainly for the poverty of its 
soil and the scarcity of water, and this in a country 
where soil and water were seldom found good and 
never abundant. 

The presence of the new governor, Gaspar de 
Portola, and the commander of the presidio, Cap¬ 
tain Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada, and his 
company of soldiers alone showed that Loreto was 
the capital of the peninsula. 

The governor came alongside the Purisima in 
his boat, to take the friars ashore. Only Junipero 
and Palou availed themselves of this courtesy. 
Their companions remained on board to await the 
first faint streak of dawn, then with their modest 
personal possessions neatly packed, their beds 
rolled up and securely tied, they went ashore. As 
they trudged through the sands towards the white¬ 
washed adobe structure and the mud huts, called 
the capital of this bare, greenless, and almost tree¬ 
less land,* they were followed by a crowd of curi¬ 
ous-eyed Indians. They had gathered on the beach 
to see the strangers who had come to take the place 
of their Jesuit rulers. 

Since the expulsion of the fathers there had not 
been so much bustle and excitement in the sleepy 
little town. The next day was Easter Sunday. The 

* The land might be described as a desert waste, 
a land of miserable thickets and thorns, of naked rocks, 
stones, and sand heaps, without water and without 
wood. 

Hittell, History of California, I, p. 263. 


Missions in Lower California 55 

entire population of Loreto flocked to the mission 
to participate in the services. There were the 
affable Governor Portola and Capt. Rivera y Mon- 
cada, who commanded the small garrison. The 
latter was a man of middle age, conscientious in the 
discharge of his duties and a favorite with his 
soldiers; there was also, it may be, his wife, Dona 
Teresa de’ Davalos, who, it would appear, had 
passed eleven years of her life in the dreary Cali¬ 
fornia peninsula, where she had given her husband 
three sturdy sons, the last one yet a babe; there 
were the few colonists, all mechanics, or vaqueros; 
the blustering, rough-tempered soldiery, and lastly, 
the mission Indians, outnumbering them all. After 
a Thanksgiving mass, Junipero preached to this 
mixed gathering. He told them that he and his 
brethren would take up the work left by the Jesuits 
and continue it to the best of their abilities. 

The Easter ceremonies lasted three days. When 
they were finally concluded, Junipero read to the 
assembled friars the order of their distribution. 
Inasmuch as no two men were assigned to the same 
mission, even to those most remote and lonely, it is 
interesting to note Palou’s brave assertion that they 
were “ all very contented and gave thanks to God 
for the fate which had befallen us.” Then, after 
deriving what comfort they could from Junipero’s 
promise that if any one of them died at his post, 
the others would say twenty masses for his soul, the 
friars left Loreto to journey to their various mis¬ 
sions. There was nothing that could properly be 


56 


Junipero Serra 

designated a road in the entire peninsula, the 
nearest approach to “ the king’s highways,” were 
rough trails which led through thick, scrubby chap¬ 
arral, thorny plants, or over rocky mountains. 

The missionaries journeyed together as far as 
San Xavier, the mission Palou was to administer, 
then separated, eight friars traveling to the north 
and five to the south, each cheerfully seeking his 
lonely, desolate station. 

Crespi was assigned to the mission Purisima, 
about a day’s journey beyond San Xavier, while 
Junipero, as president of the establishments, re¬ 
mained in Loreto. 

From the outset, the Franciscans found them¬ 
selves hampered in their spiritual work. They did 
not hold the missions on the same basis as their 
predecessors. The temporalities had been intrusted 
by the government to military comisarios, upon 
whom the Franciscans were dependent even for 
their board. 

While it was eminently desirable that missionary 
power should be curtailed, the reforms introduced 
were too drastic and were of a nature to seriously 
interfere with the work of conversion. The friars 
protested in vain. They were told that their work 
must be strictly confined to ministering to the 
heathen’s spiritual welfare; his soul, not his 
stomach, was their charge. Junipero was dis¬ 
heartened. He argued that without the power of 
attracting Indians by means of food, clothing, and 
gifts, the padres would scarce see a savage, much 


Missions in Lower California 57 

less reach his soul. Moreover, their loss of power 
would cause the neophytes to respect the Francis¬ 
cans less than the Jesuits, and the padres’ influence 
over them would in consequence be lessened. The 
missions, declared Junipero, in his complaint to 
Portola, would rapidly decline, unless the temporal 
and spiritual control were again united. The good- 
natured governor, however, had not the power to 
alter the regulations, and although Junipero’s pre¬ 
dictions came true, and the missions rapidly dete¬ 
riorated under the mismanagement and dishonesty 
of the comisarios, Portola could only offer the dis¬ 
appointed president the hope of a return to the old 
system. With this hope, vague though it was, 
Junipero was forced to be contented. But the man 
who possessed the authority to effect the desired 
change was soon to appear. Jose de Galvez had 
been appointed visitador general by the crown, to 
administer the royal revenues in New Spain. His 
powers exceeded even those of the viceroy. He was 
now on his way to California, ostensibly to inspect 
the state of affairs there, but in verity on a matter of 
vastly greater importance. 

Spain’s fear of Russian encroachment on the 
Pacific coast had increased materially since 1765. 
She had become cognizant of certain Slavonic 
explorations on the Alaska coast. She had reasons 
to fear that these explorations would extend farther 
south and encroach on her own domain. This fear 
determined her finally to take steps for the protec¬ 
tion of the peninsula; her precautions to consist, 


58 


Junipero Serra 

in part, in the establishment of two fortifications 
in Alta California, namely at San Diego and at 
Monterey. A general knowledge of these ports 
Spain had long possessed from former explorations 
of the northwest coast, though no attempt had ever 
been made to occupy and fortify them. For more 
than a century and a half she had sent no exploring 
fleet up the California coast. She was more in¬ 
terested in obtaining money from the colonies she 
already possessed than in making expenditures for 
augmenting their number. More lucre, not more 
territory, was her cry. But the time had arrived 
when she recognized the necessity of abandoning 
this pleasant policy, in order to protect the very 
colonies from which she had so long replenished 
her exchequer. The order was given to occupy San 
Diego and Monterey. The latter port was to serve 
also as a relief station for the Manila galleon, which 
year after year, 

Coming from the west by the northern route, sadly in 
need of a refitting and relief station, had borne her 
strained timbers and oriental treasure and scurvy- 
stricken crew down past the California ports.* 

these plans were left to Jose de Galvez. He was a 
man fertile in expedients, prompt in action and of 
indomitable will. 

He set sail from San Bias, the government naval 
station, the latter part of May. Owing to contrary 
winds he did not arrive in Baja California before 

* Bancroft, History of California, Vol. I, p. 112. 


Missions in Lower California 59 

the sixth of July. He took up his headquarters at 
Santa Ana, in the house of a wealthy pearl specu¬ 
lator. There was a flutter of excitement in the 
peninsula over the arrival of the great man. In the 
bosoms of the comisarios this flutter could scarcely 
have been an agreeable one. Galvez’s first act on 
arriving was to inspect the condition of mission 
affairs under the new regulations. He subjected 
the comisarios to a rigid examination and discov¬ 
ered both their inefficiency and cupidity. All this 
was a source of extreme vexation to him, necessitat¬ 
ing the giving of time and attention which he was 
desirous of applying to the furtherance of his great 
Californian plan. He promptly ordered them to 
make an inventory of their possessions, to turn the 
papers over to be signed by the padres, who from 
this time on were to control the temporalities of 
their missions. In writing to Palou of this matter 
he said: 

It has vexed me much to see the destruction that has 
taken place before my arrival in the cattle and proper¬ 
ties of the poor missions — for all this has given me 
more work, but I have cut the root which caused the 
damage.* 

The mission at Loreto however was, for a reason 
difficult to understand, permitted to remain under 
the same management as before the visitador’s 
advent. 

However ignorant the general public may have 


* Palou’s Noticias, I, p. 28. 


60 


Junipero Serra 

been regarding the main object of Galvez’s visit, 
it is unlikely that Fray Junipero was not fully 
instructed by the Guardian of San Fernando, inas¬ 
much as the spiritual charge of the Alta California 
enterprise was, by royal command, to be confided 
to the Franciscans. Junipero however gave no sign 
of being better informed than were others in the 
peninsula. But when the visitador finally wrote to 
him, communicating his instructions, the president 
replied with characteristic ardor that he would 
accompany the expedition in person. He also stated 
the number of missionaries he considered necessary 
for the new conquest. After dispatching this letter 
he set forth to visit the southern establishments. 

In order that he might procure the requisite 
number of friars he was compelled to secularize 
some of the missions. On his return to Loreto, 
having walked over one hundred leagues on this 
business, he found a letter from the visitador, 
expressing approval and pleasure that he intended 
to accompany the expedition and requesting him 
to come to Santa Ana to discuss the necessary 
arrangements. So once again the energetic friar set 
forth under the hot, southern sun, to walk, with 
woefully sore and swollen feet, another hundred 
leagues. In this lame priest, no longer young, with 
wan, sunken cheeks, emaciated figure, and humble 
bearing, Galvez was probably far from suspecting 
the master spirit of the great enterprise. That these 
two men, at once so like and unlike, both possessed 
of great executive ability, both full of energy and 


Missions in Lower California 61 

zeal, both recognizing no obstacles in the accom¬ 
plishment of their desires — that such men should 
successfully carry out the plans they formed 
together, is not surprising. 

Besides the occupation of San Diego and Mon¬ 
terey they decided to found three missions, two to 
be in the vicinity of these ports, the third midway 
between the southern and northern settlements. 
The missions were to be called San Diego, San 
Carlos and San Buenaventura. Four expeditions 
were to be dispatched from Baja California, two 
by sea, and two by land. This plan was formulated 
to guard the enterprise against failure, as at least 
one of the four expeditions could reasonably be 
expected to prove successful. Junipero now 
returned to Loreto to continue his preparations, 
while Galvez concluded the necessary arrange¬ 
ments for transportation. Two packet boats, the 
San Carlos and San Antonio, were brought into 
requisition for the sea trip. The vessels had pre¬ 
viously served as transports for troops ordered to 
and from Sonora. Galvez also commanded the 
immediate construction of a third boat. This was 
the ill-fated San Jose. 

Because the peninsula could not furnish sufficient 
soldiers for the expedition, an order was sent to 
Lieut. Pedro Fages, recently arrived from Spain, 
to report with his twenty-five Catalan Volunteers 
at Loreto with the least possible delay. This is our 
first introduction to the bluff Catalan officer who 
figures so prominently in early California history, 


62 


Junipero Serra 

not only as one of its pioneer governors, but less 
pleasantly as the bitter foe of Junipero Serra. The 
preparation for the new conquest occupied all 
Galvez’s time and thought. Junipero was not 
behind the visitador in tireless energy and work. 
He visited one mission after another to procure 
whatever could be spared to supply the needs of the 
new establishments. The list of the articles he took 
is an interesting one, showing, as it does, what was 
considered indispensable to the occupation and 
settlement of a new country. We find included in 
the long catalogue, seven large church bells, two 
heavy copper baptismal fonts, eleven pictures of 
the Virgin, and many images of Jesus, Joseph, and 
Mary. To these were added silver phials for sacred 
oil, silver censers and goblets and purificadores; 
innumerable brass candlesticks and nineteen com¬ 
plete sets of vestments. Junipero had a rich assort¬ 
ment of church properties to choose from. The 
expelled Jesuits had prided themselves on the cost¬ 
liness of their sacred vessels. All this church para¬ 
phernalia Junipero forwarded to La Paz, the sea¬ 
port from which the expedition was to start. It was 
as impossible in those days for Spain to fit out an 
expedition of conquests without friars, and a vast 
amount of church paraphernalia, as it would be 
nowadays to equip and send out an exploring fleet 
without a doctor and a well-stocked medicine chest. 

Large quantities of slaughtered wild cattle were 
sent to La Paz, to furnish meat for the explorers. 
So expeditiously did everyone work that all was in 


Missions in Lower California 


63 


readiness for the San Carlos when that vessel 
arrived early in December. She was a small packet 
boat of not more than two hundred tons burden. 
She had encountered stormy weather in the gulf 
and was in a leaky condition when she put into port. 
It was found necessary to unload the supplies she 
already carried, careen the ship, repair her, then 
load her again. All this took time and caused delay. 
Galvez’s interest in the California expedition was 
so great that he superintended the work himself, 
and more than once assisted in stowing away un- 
wieldly packages. Palou, who appears to have 
been greatly amazed and edified at this display of 
democratic energy, declared that the great senor 
worked like a peon, to get the ship in readiness for 
a speedy departure. The same chronicler also 
informs us, that the haughty nobleman conde¬ 
scended to joke with the friars as he worked. He 
assured them that he was a better sacristan than 
Fray Junipero, because he packed more expedi¬ 
tiously for his mission — which he claimed was San 
Buenaventura — than the president, who packed 
for San Carlos.* Implements of agriculture were 
not forgotten, nor utensils for house and field. 
Many varieties of seeds, flowers, and vines were 
labelled and packed; these had been brought from 
Spain, Galvez having conceived the new country 
to be very fertile, as it lay in the same latitude as 
Spain, a conception which proved to be correct. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 59. 


64 


Junipero Serra 

Among the ample food supplies the San Carlos 
carried, red peppers and garlic were conspicuously 
present. The garlic alone amounted to 125 pounds, 
a quantity quite sufficient, one might suppose, to 
herald on the wings of the wind the coming of the 
conquerors to the savages of Alta California. The 
red peppers were equally plentiful; these and other 
spices which levantan las piedras, that is, “ burn the 
intestines,” have always occupied an important 
place in Spanish gastronomy. A generous supply of 
chocolate was also shipped, to be converted into 
that delicious and nutritious drink “ thick as juni¬ 
per berries and hot enough to burn the throat,” 
which the sons and daughters of Spain alone know 
how to make in its perfection. 

Finally, on the ninth day of February, 1769, the 
San Carlos was ready to sail. She carried, besides 
her captain, D. Vincente Vila (who Fray Junipero 
assures us was “ a pilot famed in the seas of 
Europe ”), the young Lieutenant Don Pedro Fages 
and his twenty-five Catalan Volunteers, the 
engineer Constanza, the surgeon D. Pedro Pratt of 
the royal army, a baker, a cook, and two tortilla 
makers. These men, together with the crew and 
Padre Parron, constituted the ship’s complement, 
numbering sixty-two persons. St. Joseph was 
chosen the patron saint of the expedition. All con¬ 
fessed, heard mass, and took communion. Galvez 
delivered a parting address, in which he told the 
men that theirs was a glorious mission, and charged 
them to respect their priest and to maintain peace 


Missions in Lower California 


65 


and union among themselves. Junipero bestowed a 
blessing on the ship and all on board. Then the 
San Carlos spread her white sails and put to sea. 
The visitador embarked in a smaller packet boat to 
accompany the pilgrims a certain distance down 
the gulf. He wrote Palou that, as he could not go 
with the expedition to plant the holy cross in the 
port of Monterey, he desired at least to accompany 
it as far as possible.* 

Junipero in the meanwhile returned to Loreto to 
continue preparations for the second detachment. 
On his way he stopped at the mission San Francisco 
Xavier to see Palou and tell him of the successful 
departure of the San Carlos. “ His face,” said 
Palou, “ reflected the rejoicing and content of his 
heart.” It was not long before the transport San 
Antonio arrived in port. She was to follow her 
flagship, the San Carlos. She also had been 
partially fitted out at San Bias, and like her 
capitana proved leaky— apparently a chronic con¬ 
dition of the crude craft constructed in those days 
on the Pacific coast. The San Antonio was there¬ 
fore unloaded, careened, and repaired. Galvez and 
Junipero were on hand here also, to superintend 
and hasten her departure. On this ship embarked 
friars, Fray Juan Vizcaino and Fray Francisco 
Gomez, several carpenters, blacksmiths, and the 
crew. Juan Perez, a countryman of Junipero’s who 
later did good service for California, was in 


* Palou, Vida, p. 6 1. 


66 


Jumpero Serra 

command. The same ceremonies were performed 
as with the San Carlos and on the fifteenth day of 
February the ship, with flowing sheets, sailed 
northward, before a high wind, to follow her 
capitana. This completed the maritime expedition. 
It now remained to start the land detachment. 
From Palou we learn that because this part of the 
enterprise was considered 

* * * not less arduous and dangerous than that 
by sea, owing to the many savages and depraved tribes 
through which they had to pass, it was resolved in imi¬ 
tation of the patriarch, Jacob, to divide it into two 
companies, in order that if one was unfortunate, the 
other might be saved.* 

Captain de Rivera y Moncada, who for twenty- 
five years had been in command of the presidio at 
Loreto, had charge of the first land detachment. 
He was instructed to stop at each mission and take 
from each all the cattle, food supplies and beasts 
of burden that could be spared. 

“ This he did,” said Junipero, “ and although it 
was with a somewhat heavy hand, it was undergone 
for God and the king.” 

It was indeed with a heavy hand that the captain 
levied on the mission property. He collected 200 
head of cattle, 140 horses, forty-six mules, and two 
asses. He laid in a supply of figs, sugar, dried 
meats, raisins, flour, wheat, and “ two jugs and two 
bottles of wine.” The last item shows that both 


* Palou, Vida, p. 64. 


Missions in Lower California 67 

Jesuits and Franciscans in California were suf¬ 
ficiently abstemious folk in their use of stimulants, 
for it is unlikely that the captain displayed a less 
“ heavy hand ” in supplying the expedition with 
this commodity than in other articles of provisions 
found in the missions. He journeyed slowly north¬ 
ward, increasing his escort as he went from the 
mission guards and neophytes. Fray Juan Crespi, 
the indefatigable keeper of diaries and the intimate 
friend of Junipero and Palou, accompanied him. 
The commander in chief of both the sea and land 
expedition was Governor Don Gaspar de Portola. 
He accompanied the second land division. It had 
been Junipero’s intention to travel with this last 
detachment, which left the royal presidio of Loreto 
on the ninth of March, but his work in the penin¬ 
sula was not completed and he could only promise 
to follow with the utmost possible haste. Everyone 
doubted his ability to make the rough overland 
journey. Few are bold enough at the present time 
to undertake the trip, and in those days it was a 
far more difficult undertaking. Junipero was 
already greatly fatigued. He had worked inde- 
fatigably and he had walked many miles in the 
business of the expedition. His feet were in a dis¬ 
tressingly painful condition and were scarcely able 
to support his slender weight. Portola endeavored 
to dissuade him from joining the expedition. He 
frankly told the enthusiastic padre that his presence 
would only result in retarding the travelers. 
Junipero’s sole response was that he trusted in God 


68 


jumpero Serra 

to give him strength to reach San Diego and 
Monterey. He remained in Loreto to celebrate the 
Easter festivities and to preach his farewell sermon, 
he having completed that day the ecclesiastical year 
of his arrival in the peninsula. Two days later he 
set forth, after mass, on his journey. He was accom¬ 
panied by two soldiers and a boy (mozo). Thus 
within a period of four months, the entire little 
army of conquerors was on its way to the land of 
the “ Northern Mystery.” Galvez’s work in the 
peninsula was done. He had completed his task 
successfully, thoroughly, and expeditiously. One 
historian indeed claims for him “ the first place 
among the pioneers of California, although he 
never set foot in the country.” * 




* Bancroft, History of California, I, p. 115. 



CHAPTER V 


SERRA’S LONG LAND JOURNEY 

1 ET us now follow Fray Jumpero on his long 
J overland journey to California. He left 
Loreto immediately after Easter. His provisions 
were more than meager; they were supplied by the 
royal commissary who still retained charge of the 
mission. Jumpero comments somewhat caustically 
on this official’s display of generosity: 

From my mission of Loreto I did not take more 
provisions for so long an excursion than one loaf of 
bread and a piece of cheese. For I was there all the 
year so far as temporal matters go, as the mere guest 
for the crumbs of the Royal Commissary, whose lib¬ 
erality at my departure did not extend further than 
the aforesaid.* 

His first day’s journey brought him to San 
Xavier, where he remained three days. 

I tarried in this mission [he said in his journal] for 
many motives. Reason enough for said detention was 
the very especial and mutual love between myself and 
its minister, the Rev. Father Reader, Francisco Palou, 
my disciple, Commissary of the Holy Office and elected 
by our College to succeed me in the presidency of these 


* Serra’s Diary. 


70 


Junipero Serra 

missions in case of my death or long absence. This last 
circumstance was the principal motive of said detention 
to confer with him as to what was best with regard to 
what remained in his charge during my absence.* 

When Palou met him, limping slowly, painfully 
into the mission, his eyes filled with tears. He was 
tortured with forebodings that the frail, footsore 
friar, his beloved friend and master, would not live 
to accomplish the task he had given himself. So 
great was this fear that he wrote to Galvez, and 
besought him to command Junipero to remain, 
while he, Palou, went in his stead. The reply he 
received to this letter shows another side to the 
practical and able visitador’s character: 

I am very glad that the Rev. Father Junipero insists 
upon accompanying the expedition, and commend his 
faith and great confidence that he will improve in health 
and that God will permit him to reach San Diego. This 
same faith I share with him.f 

Finding that Galvez would not interfere, Palou, 
in his anxiety, appealed to Junipero himself. The 
older man listened without comment, till his friend 
had concluded, then he said quietly: 

Do not let us speak of this. I have unlimited con¬ 
fidence in God, whose goodness will allow me not only 
to arrive in San Diego to raise and fasten in that port 

* Serra’s Diary. 

t Palou, Vida, p. 68. 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 71 

the standard of the Holy Cross, but at Monterey as 
well.* 

Palou was forced to resign himself to the decision 
of his superior, though unable to stifle his fears lest 
Junipero die upon the road. He assiduously set 
about, however, to ameliorate as far as possible, the 
hardships of the journey. He supplied deficiencies 
in the provisions, he contributed clothing, and 
managed in manifold ways to provide for the 
traveler’s well-being. Junipero said gratefully, 
concerning these arrangements, “Not even I my¬ 
self could have managed to contrive them, though 
for my sins I do not cease to be fond of my con¬ 
venience.” 

We can scarce refrain from smiling when we con¬ 
trast the incongruity of this naive confession, with 
the rigorous, abstemious life he led. At daybreak 
of the third morning of his stay Junipero rose to 
continue his journey. He bade farewell to Palou, 
his “ beloved since childhood.” He was lifted 
bodily onto his mule by the two soldiers who accom¬ 
panied him. His helpless condition increased 
Palou’s grief at their parting. When Junipero 
turned to him for the last time and said with gentle 
cheerfulness, “A' Dios till Monterey, where I 
hope we will meet to work together in that vine¬ 
yard of our Lord,” he could only reply sorrowfully 
that he feared they were bidding one another an 
eternal farewell. The older man lingered long 


* Palou, Vida, p. 67. 


72 


Jumpero Serra 

enough to reprimand Palou affectionately for his 
little faith, which he said, pierced him to the heart. 
And so the two friends parted. 

As Junipero journeyed on, we hear of his stop¬ 
ping sometimes in missions on the way, where he 
lingered over night or longer, according as the 
business of the expedition necessitated or the great 
loneliness of the isolated padres moved him to bear 
them company for a time. Or again we find him 
sleeping on the ground under the bright southern 
stars, after a long and wearisome day during which 
he had halted only “ at midday to take some rest or 
a mouthful.” 

On one such occasion he unexpectedly met with 
a sad little group of Indians. They were neophytes 
from a distant mission. Because of the dearth of 
provisions the padre had been compelled to send 
them forth into the mountains to seek their food. 
They had suffered many hardships. Their children 
were crying with hunger. Fray Junipero promptly 
appeased them with the pinole (a meal of parched 
corn) which he carried with him, and further con¬ 
soled them with the promise that they should return 
to their homes, for already corn was on the way by 
sea, to relieve the distressed missions. The weary 
friar, in recounting this incident, said: 

Then I took my rest and had them pray in concert, 
and they concluded by singing a very tender song of 
the love of God. And as they of that mission (Guada¬ 
lupe) have with reason the fame of singing with espe- 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 73 

cial sweetness, I had a good bit of consolation in hear¬ 
ing them.* 

This picture in the wilds of Baja California, one 
hundred fifty years ago, is a pleasant, peaceful one 
to contemplate. We can see the little group of 
dusky natives squatting contentedly around their 
friar-friend, while floating skyward, through the 
stillness of the starlight rises a “ tender song of the 
love of God.” Apart from his religion and his 
work, music gave to Junipero one of the rare pleas¬ 
ures he had in life. Music is the revery of the soul. 
In the vast majority of mankind, blindly struggling, 
futilely striving for a happiness bounded by the 
life material, music — even sacred music — awak¬ 
ens a vague sense of sadness. It is the nostalgia of 
the heart for the unattainable. But to those who 
have trod — feebly perhaps, despairingly at times, 
but unwaveringly always — the sequestered paths 
of self-renunciation, of spiritual progress, music 
brings sweet solace, uplifting inspiration, and the 
promise of high hopes solidified into achievements. 

After a restful night under the stars, Junipero 
set forth again, traveling “ over those so painful 
hills,” as he calls the rough mountainous trails. He 
met more hungry Indians. Again he furnished 
them with pinole from his pack mules and encour¬ 
aged them with the prospect of more food to come. 
Most of the missions of Baja California, were at 


* Serra’s Diary. 


74 


Junipero Serra 

this time in a sadly impoverished condition. Before 
Galvez commanded the royal commissaries to turn 
over the temporal arrangement of the establish¬ 
ments to the missionaries, the damage had been 
done. Fray Junipero had been justified in protest¬ 
ing against confining the friars strictly to the spirit¬ 
ual care of the neophytes. The comisarios, when 
not dishonestly using their power to benefit them¬ 
selves, were indifferent to the needs of the Indians. 
So badly did they administer the finances and tem¬ 
poral concerns under their charge, that in many 
missions an actual famine existed. This condition 
the neophytes were pathetically unprepared to 
encounter. Brought under enforced civilization for 
many years, taught to depend upon the friars for 
their sustenance, these poor semicivilized creatures 
Were no longer competent to provide for themselves 
after the manner of their untrammeled savage 
brethren. We read of more than one padre beseech¬ 
ing Junipero to permit him to withdraw from his 
mission, where, because he cannot furnish succor 
to his half-starved neophytes, he is too unhappy to 
remain. Even in times of plenty the padre’s life in 
this dreary peninsula was anything but an attractive 
one. The missions were far apart in isolated places 
where the missionaries had often to endure a lone¬ 
liness, a desolation which it is difficult to adequately 
conceive. They were men of education, some of 
them highly intellectual, and all possessing a men¬ 
tality far from mediocre; they required the intelli¬ 
gent companionship of their fellowmen, as much as 


75 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

they required their daily food. Yet we find them 
stranded alone in distant frontier missions where 
their only associates were ignorant neophytes, or 
dirty, lazy, half-tamed savages. An eloquent 
appeal to Mexico was later made by Palou for 
more friars, because of this natural longing for 
companionship. The minister in charge of the 
Guadalupe mission, Junipero tells us, was “ the 
Father Reader Fray Juan Sancho, Master of Arts, 
ex-professor of Philosophy and later Reader of 
Theology in his native land.” 

The arrival of Junipero at the mission caused 
great rejoicing in the heart of its lonely padre. He 
exerted himself to make the short sojourn of his 
superior as comfortable as possible. 

Besides these favors [says Junipero with a certain 
childlike delight] he added the favor, by me most of 
esteem, which was a Spanish-speaking (ladino) Indian 
of fifteen years, who knows how to assist at Mass, read 
and the other duties pertaining to the service. And he 
clothed him new for me, with his changes of clothing, 
leather jacket, boots, etc., and fitted him out with all 
the trappings to go horseback, and gave him a saddle- 
mule, whereat he was very contented. And thus not 
only the lad, but his parents took it for much good for¬ 
tune, and it was agreeable to all.* 

The next day a padre arrived from a distant- 
lying mission, situated on the coast of the Gulf of 
California. He came to bid Junipero God-speed 


* Serra’s Diary. 


76 


Junipero Serra 

on his journey, and to taste again, if but for a short 
time, the pleasant flavor of friendly, stimulating 
companionship. 

If these older men required all the encourage¬ 
ment Junipero could give them to continue cheer¬ 
fully their lonely task, far greater must have been 
the needs of those youthful friars, whose mad long¬ 
ing for companionship threatened at times to drown 
every other feeling within them. Junipero writes 
pityingly of one of these young friars, whose fron¬ 
tier mission was the Santa Gertrudis and who, 
because of his loneliness, had fallen into a deep 
melancholy. The mission was situated in a gloomy 
canon, (canada) of such narrowness that in order to 
procure space for building the church and dwelling 
houses, it had been necessary to cut into the rocky 
sides of the canon. A few olive and peach trees had 
been planted in the scanty soil. In this bare, isolated 
spot, without a human being to talk to save half- 
civilized savages, whose language he scarce under¬ 
stood, lived the young Fray Dionisio Basterra. 

The Baja Californians possessed none of the 
more intelligent traits of the North American 
Indians. They were low in the scale of humanity. 
The Jesuit, Father Venegas, leaves the following 
terse description of them: 

There is not a nation so stupid, of such contracted 
ideas, and weak, both in body and mind, as the unhappy 
Californians. Their characteristics are stupidity and 
insensibility, want of knowledge and reflection, incon¬ 
stancy, impetuosity and blindness of appetite, and exces- 


77 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

sive sloth and abhorrence of all work, incessant love of 
pleasure and amusement of every kind, however trifling 
and brutal. In fine a most wretched want of every¬ 
thing which constitutes the real man and renders him 
rational, inventive, tractable and useful to himself and 
society. 

Among such people as these, Fray Dionisio was 
stranded without even an Indian interpreter to bear 
him company. To reach Santa Gertrudis early in 
the day Junipero had risen before dawn, having 
that night slept upon the ground. As he approached 
the mission, he was met by the Indians with 
“ dancing and festive demonstrations,” a greeting 
the good padre had received at many missions. At 
the door of the church stood the sad-eyed young 
friar, dressed in his pluvial and accompanied by 
acolytes bearing the cross, candlestick, incensory, 
and holy water. Fray Junipero silently entered the 
church, having first “ adored the cross and 
sprinkled holy water on the Indians.” Not until 
the religious services were over and Fray Dionisio 
had doffed his vestments, did the two priests — the 
one young, lonely, and utterly unhappy, the other 
older, wiser, yet full of tender sympathy — ex¬ 
change their greeting. 

The eyes of both [says Junipero] overflowed with 
tears, (the which even now come to me anew when 
I write this,) without our being able to speak a word 
until for a long time we had paid this permissible trib¬ 
ute to Nature. Many days before the Father had 
fallen into a profound sadness over his being alone 


78 


Junipero Serra 

among so many shut-in Indians, without a soldier or 
a servant — for both the one and the other the Captain 
(Rivera) had taken away from him for the expedition, 
nor even an interpreter of any use. He had com¬ 
municated to me by various letters his disconsolate¬ 
ness, asking me for relief, which I could not give him, 
much as I desired to; I tried in various ways not only 
consoling him, but talking with the Most Illustrious 
Inspector-General (Galvez), writing to the Captain 
(Rivera) and talking to the Governor (Portola) all 
without fruit, since by no one means could I procure 
one soldier for his escort, whereby he could have had 
some relief and comfort. The Governor answered that 
he not only could not give him a soldier, but that he 
was minded to leave without one the next mission of 
San Borja, which has had three soldiers when fewest.* 

Fray Junipero had known the young friar ever 
since the latter had taken orders. He had him as a 
companion in many of his long peregrinations on 
the coast of Oaxaca and when he navigated the 
river Miges, and had tramped with him the king’s 
highway in Mexico, when holding mission meet¬ 
ings in the provinces. “ All this,” said Junipero, 
“ caused that tenderness which culminated in the 
consolation of seeing one another now at the end of 
a little more than a year since our arrival and last 
parting at Loreto.” 

The affection he entertained for the young priest 
induced Junipero to comply with Fray Dionisio’s 
entreaty to give him a few days of companionship. 


* Serra’s Diary. 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 79 

Jumpero accordingly remained at the mission five 
days, and as he himself states, not idly. 

We hear no more of the sorrowful Fray Dionisio 
until more than a year later. It is doubtful if in the 
interim either priest or soldier came to relieve his 
loneliness, to share his solitude; for we next learn of 
his having fallen ill and being sent back to his 
college in Mexico, where we must leave the melan¬ 
choly young monk, as he does not appear again in 
the annals of California. In the meanwhile Juni- 
pero continued on his way, traveling over many a 
“ grievous road ” and rocky hill, stopping at 
missions to discuss and advise with the padres con¬ 
cerning the vital question of how best to supply 
sufficient food for the neophytes, and to wring from 
the barren soil provision for the future. Finally on 
the fifth of May, five weeks from the time he left 
Loreto, rising “ good and early ” (which in Juni¬ 
pers vocabulary meant rising before the first faint 
streaks of dawn), he arrived at Santa Maria, where 
Governor Portola, with part of the second land 
expedition, was encamped. 

We were mutually glad [said Jumpero] to see our¬ 
selves already joined, to begin anew our peregrination 
through a desert land populated with only Infidelity, 
with innumerable Gentiles.* 

Five days were spent at Santa Maria, partly to 
await further supplies, which were expected, and 
partly to give Portola an opportunity to complete 


Serra’s Diary. 




80 


Junipero Serra 

the last arrangements for their march. At the end 
of that time they set out to join the remainder of the 
retinue, which had gone on in advance to Velicata 
where better pasturage could be obtained for the 
beasts. They were three days on the journey. 

All this stretch of country [writes Junipero] is even 
less supplied than the rest of California for the poor 
sustenance of its inhabitants; since from Santa Maria 
unto here (Velicata) inclusive, I did not see even a 
tree of pitahaias, neither the sweet nor the sour — but 
only now and then a cactus, and a rare garambullo. 
The most are candle cactus, a tree useless for every¬ 
thing, even for fire.* 

He kept an eager watch for savages. 

By the road we saw various little ranchos of Gentile 
Indians and recent tracks of them. But not one, little 
or big, let himself be seen; their retreat mortifying my 
desires to talk and caress them.f 

As yet Fray Junipero had seen only the Indians 
in the vicinity of the missions, all of whom had 
received baptism and were partially civilized. 
They were, therefore, the good friar believed, in 
less imminent danger of perdition than their savage 
brethren, called by the Spaniards “ Gentiles.” 

At Velicata Junipero decided to found a mission, 
which should also serve to facilitate communica- 

* Serra’s Diary, 

t Ibid. 


81 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

tions between the old establishments and those to be 
founded in Alta California. In a little jacal (a 
hut of palisades) which the first land expedition 
had hastily constructed and used as a chapel, the 
ceremonies were held. The soldiers in their leather 
jackets and shields were drawn up under arms, and 
Junipero celebrated the first mass of the new mis¬ 
sion which was called San Fernando. The troops at 
intervals discharged their muskets, the fumes of the 
powder supplying the deficiency of incense, while 
the battery of sounds served as a harsh substitute 
for the measured music of the organ. 

The region around Velicata was thickly popu¬ 
lated with savages, but even curiosity did not induce 
them to come within sight of the Spaniards. Juni¬ 
pero was profoundly disappointed. He had ar¬ 
dently hoped that on such an auspicious occasion as 
the founding of a mission, a few at least of the Gen¬ 
tiles would have approached to watch the proceed¬ 
ings and so gradually be drawn into the protecting 
arms of the church. “ Perhaps,” he said sorrow¬ 
fully, “ they are scared by so many thunders.” 
Father Miguel de la Campa, who traveled with the 
expedition, was appointed minister of the new mis¬ 
sion and was, we are assured, “ very joyous in this 
employment.” He was given the fifth part of the 
cattle, four loads of biscuits, 162 pounds of flour, 
also maize, raisins, dried figs, and a supply of 
chocolate, without which no Spaniard, even though 
he be a pious priest, can subsist. To these stores 
Junipero added a certain quantity of soap which he 


82 


Junipero Serra 

was carrying for the expedition. The fact that he 
took personal charge of this commodity is another 
evidence of his liking for the “ neatness of Holy 
Poverty.” The next morning all was bustle and 
excitement in camp, preparatory to an immediate 
departure. Junipero had said mass and had retired 
to his jacal (hut) when word was sent to him that 
the Gentiles were approaching and were, in fact, 
already near. 

I praised the Lord [he said]. I kissed the earth, 
giving His Majesty thanks that after so many years 
of desiring them, He had granted me to see myself 
among them in their land. I sallied promptly and found 
myself with twelve of them, all males and grown, except 
two were boys, one about ten years and the other about 
fifteen. I saw that which I had hardly managed to 
believe when I used to read it or they told me of it 
— which was their going totally nude, as Adam in 
Paradise before his sin.* 

The good friar was quite scandalized. We can 
scarce repress a smile on reading further, 

and so they presented themselves to us and we con¬ 
versed a long while, without there being perceptible in 
them in all that time, the least blush for being in that 
manner, though they saw us all clothed! t 

With great gentleness he put his two hands on 
their heads, and blessed them all in turn. 

* * * in token of affection I filled both their hands 

* Serra’s Diary, 
t Ibid. 


83 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

with dried figs, which they at once began to eat; and 
we received with signs of much appreciation the regal- 
ment which they presented to us — which was a net 
full of meseal and four fish — although as the poor fel¬ 
lows had not had the advertency to disembowel them 
and much less to salt them, the cook said that they were 
already of no account. The Father Campa also re¬ 
galed them with some raisins, and the Senor Governor 
gave them tobacco in the leaf, all the soldiers treated 
them and gave them to eat. And I with the interpreter 
gave them to know that in that very spot a Father 
would remain constantly, namely this one, pointing him 
out, and that he was called Fray Miguel; that they 
should come as well as the other people of their acquain¬ 
tance to visit him, and that they should tell the other 
Gentiles not to have fear or suspicion; that the Father 
would be their very friend; that those senores the sol¬ 
diers who remained there with the Father would do 
them good and no harm, that they must not steal the 
cattle running loose, but that if they were in need they 
must come and tell the Father, and he would always 
give them what he could.* 

The astonished savages appeared to listen atten¬ 
tively to these arguments, even to assent to them, so 
that Junipero was greatly pleased, and added, “ it 
seemed to me that they would fall shortly into the 
apostolic and evangelic net.” By this time the day 
was well advanced. Farewell was said to Fray 
Miguel Campa, and the expedition headed by the 
Governor departed from Velicata. Before noon of 
the next day the travelers reached a place called 
San Juan de Dios. 

* Serra’s Diary. 


84 


Junipero Serra 

It is agreeable with plenty of water and pasture, 
willows, tule, and a glad sky. Here for some days had 
been the Sergeant Francisco Ortega and some soldiers 
with part of their beasts. It was a consoling day, 
because in it all of us were united who had to go 
together on the expedition.* 

The entire party having finally met, there was a 
universal desire to push forward on the journey 
with as little delay as posible. To the soldiers this 
expedition into Upper California possessed the 
fascination of an unknown adventure, in which they 
staked all their hopes of fortune and fame. They 
expected in this mysterious northern land to line 
their pockets with gold, to festoon themselves with 
ropes of pearls, and return richly laden to their 
Spanish homes. The officers cherished hopes of 
fame, power, and honor. Junipero, alone of them 
all, was not concerned for either wealth or fame, 
and yet was more eager than the most adventurous 
among their number, to push onward with the 
utmost possible speed. 

But now occurred a difficulty which even his 
stout spirit might have foreseen and feared. His 
foot and leg had become so distressingly inflamed 
and swollen that they were no longer able to bear 
the weight of his emaciated body. With difficulty 
he managed to say mass the following morning. It 
became apparent to all except himself that he could 
not follow the expedition. He could neither walk, 


* Serra’s Diary. 


85 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

nor stand, nor sit, and was forced to remain 
stretched upon his bed. Fortunately for the sufferer 
Portola was delayed in camp, three days. The 
packs required rearranging and the beasts that had 
arrived last were in need of recuperation. In the 
meantime the Governor expended all his powers of 
argument to induce Junipero to return to Velicata, 
from which place he could, when able, slowly make 
his way back to Loreto. Portola felt that the diffi¬ 
culty of the expedition would be greatly increased 
if he were hampered by the necessity of considering 
the condition of a sick man. It is probable, also, that 
he was averse to assume the responsibility of taking 
with him into an unknown country, to confront un¬ 
known dangers, one whose death could, he thought, 
be but a mere matter of time upon so arduous a 
journey. His pleading and aguments were, how¬ 
ever, in vain. Junipero would not be moved from 
his resolution. 

* “ If it is God’s will that I die on the road, then 
bury me there,” he said, “ and I will remain con¬ 
tentedly among the Gentiles. But,” he added with 
his characteristic hopefulness, “ I have confidence 
that God will give me strength to reach San Diego, 
as he has given me strength to come this far.” 

Had he not all his life longed to illumine the 
dark places of the earth by turning upon them the 
great beneficent light of Christianity? Year by 
year, month by month, day by day, this desire had 


* Palou, Vida, p. 73. 


86 


Junipero Serra 

burned more fiercely within him, until by now it 
may be said to have reached white heat. Nothing 
short of death itself would cause him to abandon his 
purpose. If Portola had but faintly appreciated 
the indomitable will abiding in this worn, 
emaciated friar, he would not have expended time 
and eloquence in ineffective arguments. When he 
finally perceived the futility of endeavoring to 
change so firm a resolution, realizing that neither 
on foot nor on horseback could Junipero travel, he 
ordered a stretcher constructed in the form of a 
coffin (defunto) in which the friar could lie and be 
carried on the backs of the neophytes. When 
Junipero heard of the order he was greatly dejected. 
He reflected on the additional fatigue the Indians 
would be subjected to if compelled to bear him over 
rough mountainous trails, and through long, sand- 
covered stretches of hot barren plains. This thought 
tormented him. He spent hours in prayer, seeking 
divine assistance in evolving a method by which he 
need not burden the Indians, and yet be enabled to 
follow the expedition. Having prayed he sent for 
a certain muleteer, Jean Antonio Coronel. 

* “ Son,” he said, “ canst thou give me a remedy 
for the ulcers on my foot and leg? ” 

“ Father,” replied the muleteer, “ what remedy 
should I know ? Am I a surgeon ? I am a muleteer 
and know only how to cure the sores of beasts.” 

“ Then, son, suppose me one of your beasts and 


* Palou, Vida, pp. 73-74. 


87 


Serra’s Long Land Journey 

that this ulcer is a saddle-gall which has caused 
the swelling of the leg and the pains that I feel, and 
that gives me no rest or sleep, and make for me the 
same medicament that thou would’st apply to a 
beast.” 

The muleteer smiled broadly, as did all those 
who heard the good friar’s request. 

“ To give you pleasure I will do it, father,” Juan 
replied. 

He prepared an ointment of tallow and herbs 
and applied it to the sufferer’s foot and leg. It 
proved an efficacious remedy. Relieved of pain, 
Junipero slept peacefully for the first time in many 
nights. The following morning, to the surprise of 
all, he rose and celebrated mass according to his 
usual custom. It was not necessary to delay the 
expedition for even one hour on his account. 


CHAPTER VI 


EXPERIENCES WITH THE INDIANS 

I F PORTOLA had felt exasperated at Junipero’s 
obstinacy because of a natural apprehension of a 
catastrophe overtaking the priest and thereby 
retarding the expedition, he had too generous a 
disposition not to be pleased at his quick recovery. 
But though everyone was now in readiness for an 
early start, the order to set forth was not given. 

“ The morning dawned raining and with the 
horizon very loaded, reason for which the march 
was deferred till the next day,” which was Sunday. 
Junipero celebrated mass, then he made 

* * * a brief exhortation concerning the good 

conduct we ought all to observe on a road whose princi¬ 
pal end was the greater honor and glory of God. And 
in the name of God, Triune and One, our march was 
ordered and begun. We sallied from the place headed 
toward the west, but after a little stretch the turn of 
the high mountain which we had on our right forced us 
to the north.* 

They traveled over toilsome, sandy dry ravines, 
then took to the sierra, in the direction of Contra 
Costa, climbing mountains, difficult of ascent and 

* Serra’s Diary. 

88 


Experiences with the Indians 89 

more difficult of descent, seeking at night the 
exiguous comforts of their hastily constructed 
camps. “All these nights,” writes Junipero, “a 
lion has been roaring at us from round about. God 
deliver us from him as he has done thus far.” 

They halted wherever water could be found for 
beast and man, though such places were only too 
frequently mudholes and the supply of water 
obtained but scant. When they came upon green 
grass, a few palms, or some ragged cottonwoods, 
Junipero comments upon the fact with a keen 
pleasure. He describes the first tree they saw in this 
bare, brown land. 

It was very tall and leafy, a thing we had not seen 
till now outside the missions. And coming up to it, I 
saw it was an alamo [cottonwood] which gave me 
still greater cause to admire it; and we called the place 
Alamo Solo [Lone Cottonwood].* 

Hereafter the country became “ more smiling 
and gladsome with trees tall and tufted — and 
various little flowers, and in fine appeared a new 
country.” They saw no Indians the first part of 
their journey, though they frequently passed small 
rancherias, which apparently had been hastily 
abandoned at the approach of the Spaniards. On 
one occasion, on a distant hillock, two savages were 
descried. Neophytes were promptly dispatched to 
invite them to the camp, but they fled precipitately. 

* Serra’s Diary. 


90 


Junipero Serra 

Junipero gives a detailed and, under the circum¬ 
stances, amusing account of how they finally suc¬ 
ceeded in capturing a “ Gentile ” for the purpose 
of assuring him of their friendship. 

Two Gentiles were again visible on the same height, 
and our Indians — shrewder than yesterday — went to 
catch them with caution that they should not escape 
them. And although one fled from between their hands 
they caught the other. They tied him, and it was all 
necessary, for even bound he defended himself that they 
should not bring him and flung himself upon the ground 
with such violence that he scraped and bruised his 
thighs and knees. But at last they brought him. They 
set him before me.* 

Then the good padre tells us that he gently 
pushed the struggling Gentile upon his knees and, 
resting his two hands upon the man’s head, pro¬ 
ceeded to recite the gospel of St. John over him. 
The poor fellow probably regarded this procedure 
as some sort of evil incantation, for it had the effect 
of scaring him well-nigh out of his wits. After 
making the sign of the cross over him, Junipero 
untied him, still “ most frightened and disturbed.” 
He describes the appearance of the savage in a few 
graphic words: 

He went naked like all, with his bow and arrows, 
which were returned to him; his disheveled hair long 
and bound with a little cord of blue wool, very well 


* Serra’s Diary. 


91 


Experiences with the Indians 

made, the which we could not discover where he had 
got it. * * * He was taken to the tent of the senor 

governor; they tried to console him, assuring him no 
harm could be done him. He was a robust young per¬ 
son seemingly about twenty years. Asking him what 
his name was, he answered Axajui. These senores 
wished to know what the word meant in his language, 
but this was too much to ask this poor folk. We passed 
our Axajui some figs, meat and tortillas for him to eat. 
He ate some, but little, always with perturbation.* 

It may have been his fear of the Spaniards, or 
their kind treatment of him, or both, which induced 
the young savage to disclose, before leaving, a plot 
formed by the captain of his rancheria and four 
other captains with their rancherias, to hide behind 
some cliffs and when the Spaniards took up their 
march again “ to sally forth and kill the Padre and 
his Retinue.” Junipero gave scant attention to the 
tale. Axajui was dismissed and told to assure his 
people of the goodwill of the Spaniards towards 
them. The next morning they set out on their march 
again. The road was the best they had yet fol¬ 
lowed; it stretched over pleasant, gently sloping 
hills, “all smiling,” chronicles Junipero, “with 
many flowers of various hues.” 

Nothing worthy of note occurred during the 
march. Occasionally on a distant ridge, a dusky 
form would show itself, then suddenly disappear 
again. Thus far they had followed the same route 
taken by the Jesuit father, Linck, when he explored 


* Serra’s Diary. 


92 


Junipero Serra 

the country in 1766, whose journal Junipero had 
with him. Now however they took a northeasterly 
course instead of a northerly one, as Linck had done 
and which would have led them in the direction of 
the Colorado River, instead of the port of Mon¬ 
terey. Before the Spaniards set out that morning, 
four savages were discovered near the camp. They 
were promptly captured by the enterprising 
neophytes, although vigorously protesting and 
threatening instant vengeance if not released. It 
happened to be the hour of mass, a ceremony which 
was always held before the day’s march was begun. 
The captives were made to sit in a ring formed by 
the soldiers. By this simple expedient the indignant 
savages were forced to attend the religious services 
of their pious captors, whether they would or no. 
After mass they were given to eat and set free. They 
availed themselves of their liberty to join a band of 
Indians numbering upwards of forty, which had 
appeared. They all began shouting vociferously 
and making demonstrations of great anger. 
Through an interpreter the Spaniards learned that 
the savages were commanding them to turn back, 
and not to pass further into their country. 

Long and most troublesome time was spent in get¬ 
ting rid of them in a good way but all fruitlessly and 
not without fear that they would break out. By order 
of the Governor four soldiers, set on horses, put them¬ 
selves in a row, forcing them to retire. They resisted 
even this, and one of the soldiers firing a musket shot 
in the air toward them and after a bit another, they 


Experiences with the Indians 93 

went fleeing, and our men went on loading the beasts to 
pursue our march.* 

This little incident delayed their starting so that 
it was ten before they set out on their day’s journey. 
u The Sun was most painful withal,” sighed Juni- 
pero. But they had not rid themselves of the 
savages. Great numbers followed them as they 
marched through the hills of Contra Costa. This 
gave the Spaniards no uneasiness as long as the 
valley was spacious, but when the hills closed in 
upon them, and they had to pass through the nar¬ 
rows, the soldiers donned their leather jackets, the 
arrieros laid hands to their weapons, and all kept a 
sharp watch for the enemy. Junipero suspected 
that these Indians were from the Bay of San Quen¬ 
tin, referred to by Admiral Cabrera Bueno in his 
Speculative and Practical Navigation as being the 
most bellicose and daring in the Contra Costa. The 
next Indians they encountered were of a very 
different disposition. The Spaniards were seeking 
a camping place for the night, when a dozen or 
more savages approached them, “ very merry ” and 
with offers to show them a good halting place. Of 
this visit Junipero writes: 

When we arrived, they — as if not to embarrass us 
during the task of unloading — withdrew to a declivity 
in front of us, and there stayed without moving. As 
soon as we were disoccupied, I sent to them by my 


* Serra’s Diary. 


94 


Junipero Serra 

page and an Indian interpreter their treat of figs and 
meat, with the assurance that they could come to us 
securely, and that they should come to salute us all, 
that we were all their friends. They responded with 
signs of gratefulness, but that they could not come to 
see us until the treat they wished to give us should 
arrive; that they had sent for it to their rancheria, 
which was near. So it befell that after we had eaten 
and rested, they came down with their nets of cooked 
meseal, and with all their arms; and putting the latter 
on the ground, they began to explain to us the use of 
them, one by one, in their battles. They played all 
the roles, as well of him who gave the wound as of 
him that was wounded, with so much liveliness and 
grace that we had a good bit of recreation. For so 
much as they wished to tell us in this matter the inter¬ 
preters were quite superfluous.* 

Histrionic art, it would seem, was not entirely 
unknown to those merry children of the wilderness. 
While they were enjoying the clever little panto¬ 
mime, two women suddenly appeared. Until now, 
the Spaniards had encountered no women among 
the savages. Their absence had been to Fray Juni- 
pero something of a comfort. As the men went 
naked, the friar feared the women also would go 
abroad unclothed. The mere thought of this pos¬ 
sibility scandalized him to such an extent that he 
greatly desired putting off the ordeal of meeting 
them. When therefore the women came modestly 
covered as to their persons, Junipero’s relief was 


* Serra’s Diary. 


Experiences with the Indians 


95 


great. He even indulged himself in a sly little fling 
at feminine volubility. 

“ They talked,” he declared, “ as rapidly and 
efficaciously as this sex knows how and is accus¬ 
tomed to.” 

One of the women proved to be the girlish wife 
of the chief of the rancheria. She carried upon her 
head a portion of the “ treat ” intended for the 
Spaniards. This “ treat ” was a large pancake made 
of dough. Fray Junipero’s mind was not upon 
food. He rose to welcome the young woman, plac¬ 
ing both of his hands upon her head. The imme¬ 
diate result of the good friar’s blessing was a sticky 
mass of soft dough adhering to his fingers. To add 
to his discomfiture both wife and husband began 
explaining to him the correct manner of eating this 
doubtful delicacy. “ The older woman also talked, 
more than all and in yells,” said the poor padre, a 
bit impatiently we suspect. It is trying to be con¬ 
sidered merely hungry and greedy when engaged 
in the wholly meritorious act of blessing an infidel. 
The following morning when the Spaniards were 
breaking camp and preparing to leave, the savages 
announced their intention of accompanying them a 
certain distance on the way in token of their friend¬ 
ship. They added an exotic touch to the march far 
from pleasurable. They displayed symptoms of 
colossal mischievousness insistent to the point of 
enmity. When the expedition traversed narrow 
trails bordering steep precipices, the savages glee¬ 
fully amused themselves sliding down the slopes 


96 


Junipero Serra 

above in great numbers, hurrahing lustily as they 
slid, and frightening the animals by their uproar, 
so that these latter were in imminent danger of 
falling over the cliffs. To quote from Junipero’s 
journal again: 

It was said to them that this was enough already, 
that we were very content and sure of their fine friend¬ 
ship. * * * But since from the uproar they did 

not attend nor understand, we remained in the same 
fix, and the bad matter progressed because the way 
grew always worse. The chief of them was called and 
was charged concerning the matter and tried to com¬ 
pose and gather his people, in which he succeeded only 
in part. At last the Senor Governor, who had gone 
forward, turned back and reinforced the request. And 
seeing that it was not enough he ordered a musket shot 
into the air in their direction.* 

They were astounded by the roar and flash of the 
firearms and fled like hinds. “ And the trouble was 
ended,” said Junipero, “ although I already felt 
that with this demonstration we left them some 
doubt of our love toward them.” 

The Spaniards now continued their march unim¬ 
peded by further annoyances. They kept always 
in the direction of the coast, hoping with the ascent 
of every hill to see from its summit the broad 
Pacific glistening below them. The intolerable 
fervor of the sun, combined with the difficulty of 
the road they traversed, caused the daily march to 


* Serra’s Diary. 


Experiences with the Indians 97 

be limited, seldom enduring more than three or 
four hours and only occasionally lasting five or six. 
During this journey, Fray Junipero was quick to 
examine the most advantageous points for future 
mission and pueblo sites. It was his desire to form 
a connecting line of missions from Velicata — now 
called San Fernando — to San Diego, thus materi¬ 
ally facilitating intercourse with the proposed new 
establishments of Alta California, while at the 
same time providing for the spiritual needs of the 
hordes of savages populating this barren region. 
In all probability the energetic friar would have 
accomplished his plan, had the Franciscans 
retained the spiritual charge of Baja California. 

The Indians still continued to be friendly, merry 
folk. They had their clown ( chahuaco ) to amuse 
them, and dancing men who went about carrying 
rattles in their hands and fantastically frolicked 
for their food. They looked upon the Spaniards 
with the same degree of half-fearful, wholly glee¬ 
ful interest that children nowadays accord an exhi¬ 
bition of trained lions. It may be that the constant 
meeting with these lively Indians caused the neo¬ 
phytes who accompanied the expedition to long 
also for freedom and jollity. But whatever the 
cause, they began to desert in ever increasing num¬ 
bers, greatly to Fray Junipero’s distress. 

After noon and all having eaten, nine Indians of 
those who accompanied us deserted us at one blow. 
When in the middle of the afternoon they were missed, 
they were hunted for, but not even one track of them 


98 


Junipero Serra 

could be found, and inquiring of those that have been 
left to us what could have been the cause of this un¬ 
looked for news, as they were given food, were treated 
well, and always showed themselves content, they 
answer they do not know. God, our Lord, bless them 
as well for the well they have served us, as for the lack 
they will be to us in the future.* 

But twelve neophytes remained with the expedi¬ 
tion. As the journey continued, food became more 
and more scarce. To remedy this scarcity hunters 
were dispatched to provide the hungry travelers 
with some of the deer and antelope which were 
roaming the neighboring hills. Junipero has a 
good-natured laugh at the marksmanship dis¬ 
played. 

Our hunters have been unfortunate because all of 
those animals have mocked at their shots, and have 
remained walking about, and of fresh meat we have 
had but the desire.t 

The road now became more difficult. The hills 
were rough and steep to climb, the descents long 
and wearisome. “ It seemed more like sliding than 
walking,” sighs the friar, “ and all the earth so 
movable that it seemed dust, in which the beasts 
stuck.” And again he writes: 

Now hills, slopes and barrancas offered, and at the 
end of five hours we saw that we had to descend to 

* Serra’s Diary. 

t Ibid. 


99 


Experiences with the Indians 

a depth so great and precipitous that it gave one the 
horrors to look at it. Every one dismounted, and, half 
walking and half dragging, falling and getting up, we 
descended to the valley.* 

Water also became more scarce, more difficult to 
find. Frequently they had only a small quantity 
which they carried in bags of skin from preceding 
places. The faithful sergeant, Ortega, went two or 
three days’ journey in advance, searching for water. 
Often after laboriously digging for the precious 
fluid, it was found brackish, tepid, or insufficient to 
supply the needs of either man or beast The neo¬ 
phytes continued to desert, Junipero writes sorrow¬ 
fully: 

Thus little by little we go losing our companions, 
more necessary to us than some think, as only he who 
sees it from near could form a worthy conception of 
how they work, ill-fed and without salary, t 

In the midst of these troubles the travelers were 
cheered by a glimpse of the “ sea of the Contra- 
costa,” from the eminence of a high hill. Also, the 
discovery of a rich silver mine by one of the mule¬ 
teers lent a pleasurable excitement to their toilsome 
journey. Fray Junipero’s comment on this dis¬ 
covery is laconic enough. “ Much good may it do 
them,” he said with true Franciscan indifference 
to riches. 

* Serra’s Diary. 

t Ibid. 




100 


Junipero Serra 


In strong contrast to this lack of interest, he dis¬ 
plays a keen appreciation of the many natural 
beauties they now encountered on their journey. 
As they drew nearer the more fertile country of 
Alta California, he notes the many beautiful 
flowers. 

And that there should be nothing lacking in this line 
[he says with a simple, charming delight] today, on 
arriving at the camping place we have met the queen 
of them all, which is the Rose of Castile. When I 
write this I have before me a branch of rose bush with 
three roses opened, others in bud, and more than six 
unpetaled. Blessed be He who created them.* 

He gives the place the poetical name of the 
“ Arroyo of the Roses,” and adds, “ It is in so many 
places rank with Rosebushes full of flowers that 
well could an apothecary extract his profit.” 

The travelers resumed their laborious march 
over steep hills, through deep ravines, till one eve¬ 
ning, worn and covered with the fine dust of the 
country, they descended into a well-watered plain, 
which spread out before them like a shining garden 
of Eden. 

Here they gladly rested for a day, that the ani¬ 
mals might graze luxuriously on the green grass 
and have water sufficient to quench their thirst. 
“ The men,” said Junipero, “ also thought to have 
their refreshment with fishing and hunting.” 

* Serra’s Diary. 


Experiences with the Indians 101 

Again they proved themselves indifferent sports¬ 
men, for the friar assures us that “ the fishers caught 
never a fish nor the hunters hit even one sure shot 
at the jack rabbit and cotton tails that were cross¬ 
ing the plain.” 

Portola and Junipero in the meantime had rather 
the best of it for they remained quietly in camp 
and were refreshed with “ chia-water ” which the 
natives brought them, “ giving us with joviality, 
great pleasure and consolation such as we had not 
had till here.” 

After mass the next day a little market scene was 
enacted: 

The soldiers and Gentiles were trading little white 
handkerchiefs, which they greatly crave, for various 
strings of fresh fish, in which they well showed them¬ 
selves not to be a bit fools, because if the handkerchief 
was small, also the fish were less that they gave for 
it, without haggling or disputes doing any good.* 

Junipero describes these savages as having 
“ beautiful figures.” 

The women go very honestly covered, but the men 
naked like the others in totum. They wear their quivers 
over the shoulder. As they are usually described they 
wear a kind of crown of Beaver Skin or of other fine 
fur on their head. They wear the hair cut, in a form 
of perruque and plastered with white clay with some 


* Serra’s Diary. 




102 Jumpero Serra 

cleanliness. May God give them that of the soul. 
Amen.* 

A little later on the journey, after a two days' 
march we have a picture of the friar, seated on the 
ground, surrounded by a company of men, women, 
and children, teaching them to say “ Jesus Maria ” 
and holding the while, carefully, in his arms a lit¬ 
tle naked, nursing babe, which one of the women 
had thrust upon him. “ I give them what I can, I 
caress them as best I can, and thus we are passing 
on, as now there is no way of doing better work.” 
Junipero’s feeling for the Californian Indians was 
one of extreme gentleness, kindliness, and sym¬ 
pathy. While other missionary fathers comment 
on their stupidity, their laziness, their treachery, 
their inordinate love of amusement, he speaks only 
of their “ affability and joyousness.” Of the coast 
Indians he writes, “ All the Gentiles have pleased 
me, but these in especial have stolen my heart from 
me.” They came near to stealing more than the 
good friar’s heart. These naked children of the 
wilderness manifested a curious mania for clothing 
or for “ any little trifle that they imagine conduces 
to their adornment.” The Spaniards found them¬ 
selves in the awkward position of having to exer¬ 
cise extreme vigilance to retain intact the very gar¬ 
ments they were wearing. For food they cared but 
little, “ because,” declared Junipero, “they are 


* Serra’s Diary. 


103 


Experiences with the Indians 

stuffed, and accordingly are fat; and the Senor 
Governor would like most of them for grenadiers, 
on account of their lofty stature.” They made 
repeated efforts to take Junipero’s habit from him. 
They caught him by the sleeve and with signs indi¬ 
cated their desire that he remove his priestly frock 
and bestow it upon them. “ If I had consented to 
all who proposed this to me,” he said with quiet 
amusement, “ there would be quite a big enough 
community of gentile friars.” 

But the characters of the Indians changed, as the 
expedition drew nearer Alta California. They 
now combined a marked maliciousness with their 
many demonstrations. The Spaniards soon real¬ 
ized that these savages were neither so friendly or 
trustworthy as those they had previously encoun¬ 
tered. They were within a few days’ travel of San 
Diego. The march was often over a succession of 
difficult barrancas, with banks all soft and slippery 
and prickly pear abounding everywhere. Once the 
day’s journey lasted more than six hours of such toil¬ 
some marching that Junipero declared it was for 
him “ the most molestful day’s journey that we 
have had.” Besides the fatigue, the travelers had to 
endure the vexation of being followed by armed 
bands of Indians, who amused themselves darting 
with incredible swiftness in and out between the 
mules, the soldiers and the muleteers, impeding 
the march. 

To all and repeated remonstrances the savages 
responded with derisive laughter and increased 


104 


Jumpero Serra 

efforts to annoy. Sometimes they would withdraw, 
only to suddenly reappear and swoop down upon 
the little cavalcade with roars of laughter. They 
did not desist from this amusement until they them¬ 
selves grew tired. When night fell camp was made 
in a valley on the banks of a little stream which 
tumbled joyously into the foam-flecked sea. But 
even here the weary Spaniards were not allowed to 
remain in unvexed tranquility. Hordes of men, 
women, and children surrounded them. The 
behavior of the savages resembled a conclave of 
jabbering, grinning monkeys. They imitated their 
unwilling hosts in every minute action; they 
pressed themselves close against them, the better to 
abstract bits of coveted clothing. The patience 
displayed by this little band of Spaniards is worthy 
of comment. They did not even resort to that effec¬ 
tual styptic to Indian intrusion, the firing in the 
air of musketry. The management of this second 
land expedition by Governor Portola bespeaks him 
a high-minded, large-hearted man, possessing a 
notable ascendency over the rough, reckless soldiers 
under him It was this which enabled him to 
march successfully through a long stretch of coun¬ 
try densely populated with savages without an 
incident occurring derogatory to the name of 
Christianity. 

Portola himself did not escape the importunities 
of the savages. They evinced an ardent desire for 
his leather jacket, his waistcoat, breeches, in fact, 
for every garment he wore. From Jumpero they 


Experiences with the Indians 105 

begged his habit and bothered him continually to 
give them his spectacles. The friar good-naturedly, 
but unwisely, took off his glasses to permit one of 
his tormentors to examine them. He writes: 

God knows what it cost me to recover them again, 
because he fled with them. At last after a thousand 
difficulties I recovered them after they had been in the 
hands of the women who hankered after them.* 

Before the Spaniards left this camping place 
they were cheered by unexpected tidings from their 
countrymen in the port of San Diego: 

Two Gentiles were seen coming anew in the distance, 
and one of them had on a blue cotton, as it was a 
new thing until here, because we had not seen even a 
thread of clothing, we waited his arrival with anxiety, 
as by the sign we all guessed he was the bearer of 
good tidings. So it was, because they told us that they 
came from San Diego, where that clothing had been 
given them, and that although they had spent two days 
on the road, it was because they had been detained by 
fishing. They gave us news of everything, although 
much of that which they told us seemed to us incredible, 
such as that there were two boats there and so many 
padres. And that which pleased us most was their 
saying that they had met the sergeant with his Com¬ 
panion on the road, who, as I have said, went on ahead 
exploring sites and watering places for the regulations 
of the Day’s Journeys, and that since yesterday he 
would already be in San Diego.f 

* Serra’s Diary, 

t Ibid . 


106 


Jumpero Serra 

This proved to be all true, for the next day 
Ortega appeared and with him were ten soldiers 
of the first land division. They had been sent by 
Captain Rivera y Moncada to escort Governor 
Portola and his expedition to San Diego. The new¬ 
comers were hailed with joy; their compatriots 
crowded about them, listening eagerly to «the 
budget of news they had to tell. 

Portola had halted one day in camp to refresh 
the beasts. He now determined to push on in 
advance with his servant and eight soldiers. The 
remainder of the company were ordered to follow 
as expeditiously as the weary pack animals would 
enable them. Fray Junipero, if we read aright 
between the lines of his journal, was near the point 
of exhaustion during the last two days of this jour¬ 
ney. Fearfully, painfully he worked his way over 
steep eminences and rough passes. There were 
many barrancas to cross which appeared to him 
more difficult and dangerous than any they had 
hitherto encountered. 

Although I passed all of them praying and trying 
to do acts of conformity, my heart came to be com¬ 
pressed much, seeing danger in each one, and that when 
coming out of one, it was to cross soon without rest 
another. But like all things of this world, they came 
to an end and after a little more than three hours of 
walking we arrived at a rancheria very populous with 
Gentiles.* 


* Serra’s Diary. 


Experiences with the Indians 107 

Here Junipero had hoped to rest, but Ortega, 
retaining a vivid recollection of his experience in 
that rancheria, urged the tired friar onward. After 
an hour’s additional marching they halted for the 
night “ by a beautiful brook of good water.” On 
the morning of July i, 1769, a little before noon, 
Fray Junipero and the second land expedition 
arrived at San Diego, having traveled forty-six 
days from Velicata. When from the eminence of 
a hill they descried the port, the soldiers exultingly 
announced their arrival with volley after volley of 
musketry. Far below on the smiling shores of San 
Diego Bay came an answering salute, while the two 
ships riding in the harbor thundered forth deep 
salvos of welcome, which, reverberating against 
the hills, echoed far out over the tranquil sea. So 
were finally united in San Diego the four divisions 
of that great expedition organized by Galvez and 
Fray Junipero, which was to settle California and 
add a notable page to the long record Spain has 
established as one of the greatest colonizing forces 
in the world. 


CHAPTER VII 


SAN DIEGO AND SAILOR SORROWS 

B EFORE continuing the narrative of Fray 
Junipero’s arrival in Alta California, we will 
cast a glance over the events that occurred there a 
couple of months previous to his coming. 

More than one hundred fifty years had elapsed 
since the blue waters of San Diego Bay had felt the 
keel of a foreign ship, or their shores had echoed to 
the masterful tread of the conquering white man. 
Since the autumn of 1603, when Sebastian Viz¬ 
caino, with his two hundred men, landed from the 
Tres Reyes and for ten days startled out of their 
indolent lethargy the San Diegueno Indians, no 
European had disturbed the aboriginal solitude of 
these shores. The solitude was at last broken by the 
good ship San Antonio, when she dropped anchor 
in San Diego Bay in the month of April, 1769. The 
San Antonio, the reader may remember, had left 
the peninsula more than a month after her capitana, 
the San Carlos, had sailed northward, yet she was 
the first to arrive at SanJDiego. The natives beheld 
with admiration, mingled with awe, the swiftly 
advancing ship, tossing the billows from her bows 
with calm indifference, like some mighty monster 
of the sea. They did, indeed, mistake her for a 
108 


109 


San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 

gigantic whale; then, as she swept into the harbor 
with snowy pinions, and proudly rode at anchor 
near their shores, they trembled with fear. She 
was, they thought, the supernatural agency of por¬ 
tentous happenings to themselves, for simultaneous 
with her arrival occurred an eclipse of the sun and 
an earthquake. To be sure, these phenomena were 
not remarked by the Spaniards, yet when the 
Indians later told the tale, it was given credence 
and Fray Junipero firmly believed that the padres’ 
teachings were in this manner heralded by heaven 
to the savages. 

The San Antonio was, as we know, commanded 
by the Majorcan pilot, Juan Perez, the most skilful 
pilot who in those days saw service on the Califor¬ 
nian coast. He was amazed to discover at San 
Diego no signs of the flagship, nor any indication 
that the first land expedition was near. He would 
have liked to continue the exploration up the coast, 
pending the arrival of the San Carlos . But Gal¬ 
vez’s instructions had been explicit in this regard. 
Whichever vessel arrived first in port was ordered 
to wait for her companion vessel twenty days, after 
which lapse of time, she was to proceed up the 
coast and search for the harbor of Monterey. It 
was a tedious period of quiesence for those on 
board the San Antonio. They could make no 
attempt to land and explore the country for the 
temper of the natives was not known, and the San 
Antonio carried no soldiers. Moreover, Galvez 
had expressly commanded that all unnecessary risks 


110 Junipero Serra 

should be avoided. Finally, when eighteen dull, 
uneventful days had passed, and Perez had begun 
preparations for leaving port, the San Carlos hove 
in sight. 

The vessel had been one hundred ten days reach¬ 
ing her destination. She dropped anchor, but did 
not lower a boat. An ominous silence seemed to 
reign over the ship. That something was amiss 
was apparent. Perez rowed over to the vessel, on 
which the cheerful tumult of a late arrival in port 
was so conspicuously absent. His investigation 
soon revealed the fact that the captain and all on 
board were half dead with the scurvy. His own 
men went promptly to work, putting up sail tents 
on the beach and removing the sick from the 
stricken ship. The friars, assisted by all who were 
able and by Doctor Pratt, who, though himself 
smitten with the disease, continued to perform his 
duties, worked day and night caring for the sick. 
But their ceaseless efforts were futile. The pale 
phantom, Death, made his abode in the camp and 
summoned victim after victim to join his grim 
ranks. Perez’s men now took the infection. Soon 
the canvas settlement on the beach was converted 
by the corruption of death into a charnel house. 
Soldiers, sailors, mechanics, succumbed with fear¬ 
ful rapidity to the dread enemy. Of the San Carlos' 
crew scarcely one remained. For two wretched 
weeks those who were able to crawl about dug pits 
in the sand in which to bury the dead, and from 
this gloomy task returned only to resume their 


San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 111 

feeble care of the dying. Such was the grim situa¬ 
tion that confronted Captain Rivera y Moncada 
when he reached San Diego with the first land 
expedition. He was greeted by a few hollow-eyed, 
anxious men, the pitiful remnant of the sturdy com¬ 
pany, who daring, eager, and full of hope had 
sailed away from La Paz to conquer souls for 
heaven and land for the Spanish king. 

Rivera’s arrival brought relief to the survivors. 
He immediately set about to remove this plague- 
stricken canvas settlement among the sand dunes by 
the sea. At the foot of a hill a few miles to the 
north he selected a site for a new camp. Here, 
inside a hastily constructed fort, he had huts built 
for the men and corrals for the animals. Within 
three days after his arrival, the sick were trans¬ 
ported from the desolate pest place on the beach 
to the clean, fresh camp. Whatever failings and 
weaknesses Rivera may have manifested later, on 
this occasion, at least, he proved himself a man of 
sound sense, of prompt action, and energy. For the 
next six weeks friars, officers, and soldiers were 
busily occupied in nursing the sick and in unload¬ 
ing the San Antonio. At the end of that time 
Governor Portola and Fray Junipero arrived with 
the second land expedition. The welcome accorded 
them was, as we have seen, a joyful one and indi¬ 
cated a vastly improved condition of affairs. 

It was a picturesque assemblage that had gath¬ 
ered on the fair shores of San Diego Bay, that July 
day in the year of our Lord 1769. There were the 




112 


Jumpero Serra 

military and naval officers of the expedition, their 
brilliant uniforms somewhat torn and tarnished 
from the rough usage on the journey; the five Fran¬ 
ciscan friars, their long brown gowns tucked up 
under hempen girdles, their shaven heads ruth¬ 
lessly exposed to the rays of the summer sun; 
there was the sorry remnant of Lieut. Fages’ Cata¬ 
lan Volunteers, and Captain Rivera’s soldatos de 
cuera (leather jacket soldiers) in their sleeveless 
cuirasses, or jackets, made of half a dozen layers of 
deerskins which offered an almost impenetrable 
barrier to the arrows of the Indians. Suspended on 
the left arm of each soldier was a shield made of 
several thicknesses of oxhide. When mounted he 
had also 

* * * a leather apron fastened to the pommel of 

his saddle and falling on both sides so as to cover 
his thighs and protect his legs as well against arrows 
as against thorns and branches in passing through thick 
underbrush and chaparral. His offensive arms were 
the lance, the broadsword and sabre and the carbine or 
short musket which when not in actual use were gen¬ 
erally carried in a leather case.* 

Here also were the few Baja California neo¬ 
phytes who had not deserted the expedition en 
route; the crew of the San Antonio and the sole 
survivors of the San Carlos crew, namely, the cook 
and one seaman. To these we must add the weary 

* Hittell, History of California, I, pp. 515, 516. 


San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 113 

animals bunched together in the corrals. This con¬ 
stituted the entire number of those who came to 
conquer California for Castile and Christianity in 
the year 1769. 

Let us pause a moment and consider more closely 
the leaders of these early California pilgrims. The 
chief in command was, as we know, Don Caspar de 
Portola, captain of dragoons and governor of Cali¬ 
fornia. He was kind-hearted, affable, careful of 
the health of his subordinates, slow to quarrel, 
a man to like and admire for the qualities of his 
heart rather than for the brilliancy of his intel¬ 
lect, which was, indeed, of a somewhat medi¬ 
ocre order. Next in command came the young 
Lieutenant of the Catalan Volunteers, Don Pedro 
Fages. He was gifted with some wit and no tact, 
was blustering, high-tempered, unimpeachably 
brave, and heartily disliked by his soldiers. 
Though he was second in command, there was with 
the expedition another officer, his superior in point 
of rank and years. This was Don Fernando Rivera 
y Moncada, senor captain and former commandant 
of the royal presidio at Loreto, an elderly man of 
trustful countenance, full of resentment at being 
supplanted from his rightful position. He was 
distinguished by a certain slowness of intellect, but 
as brave and honest, withal, as any officer to be 
found in his Majesty’s service. Last of the military 
officials was the non-commissioned officer, Sergeant 
Jose Ortega. He was well liked by the friars, pos¬ 
sessed a certain practical good sense, and could be 





114 


Junipero Serra 

relied upon to perform his duty to the best of his 
ability, which was, if not of a conspicuously high 
order, far from being despicable. The first in 
authority to represent the church in Alta California 
was Fray Junipero Serra. He was at this time 
about fifty-seven years old. We have but to look at 
the picture of his sensitive, delicate face to note the 
strong will, the sweet temper, and the intelligence 
therein. Of the four friars with Fray Junipero the 
best known is his friend, Fray Juan Crespi. His 
humility and piety earned for him in his college 
days in Palma the sobriquet, El Beato. He was a 
simple-hearted man, who found his happiness in 
following in the footsteps of a pious leader, blessed 
in that his leader was his lifelong friend. 

The first Sunday in Alta California, which fell 
on the day following Junipero’s arrival, was cele¬ 
brated with all possible pomp. An altar was 
erected, and in the open air amid the scenic setting 
of beautiful hills and bay, the first pilgrims of Alta 
California, chanted a solemn thanksgiving mass. 
Their music was the thunder of exploding gun¬ 
powder, its smoke their incense offering to their 
patron saint, San Jose. Of the two hundred nine¬ 
teen men who had left the peninsula, but one hun¬ 
dred twenty-six remained to take part in the 
celebration. We can readily imagine the emotion of 
these men — the memory of their dead comrades, 
so recently buried, still with them, the future with 
its unknown dangers vividly before them and the 
sustaining enthusiasm of the adventure, for most of 


San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 115 

them, already wholly gone. A conference was held 
after mass by the leaders of the expedition to delib¬ 
erate on a new plan of action, as it was manifestly 
impossible to adhere to the original program. The 
scurvy had decimated their forces, destroyed their 
crew, thus rendering futile any attempt to explore 
by sea the port of Monterey. It was decided to send 
the San Antonio manned by a few convalescent sail¬ 
ors back to San Bias, to recruit a fresh crew for her¬ 
self and for the San Carlos. She was also to bring 
back additional supplies. Fray Junipero with the 
sick, a small guard, and Doctor Pratt, was to remain 
at San Diego while the main part of the expedition, 
with all the officers, pushed on to Monterey. These 
plans being formulated, preparations to carry them 
into effect were immediately begun. All this Juni¬ 
pero, three days after his arrival, wrote to Palou, 
giving at the same time the concatenation of causes 
which rendered so disastrous the voyage of the San 
Carlos . 

Hail Jesus, Mary and Joseph — Rev. Father Reader 
and President Fr. Francisco Palou: 

I hope your reverence is in good health and is work¬ 
ing with much consolation and success in the establish¬ 
ment of the new mission of Loreto and of the others, 
and that soon the reinforcement of new ministers will 
arrive, that all the missions may remain in good order 
for the consolation of every one. I, thank God, arrived 
the day before yesterday, the first of the month, at this 
port of San Diego, truly a beautiful one and with reason 
famous. Here I found those who had set off before 
me both by sea and land, except those who died. The 


116 


Jumper o Serra 

brethren, Fray Crespi, Vizcaino, Parron, Gomez, are 
here, and with myself all well, thank God. Here also 
are the two vessels, but the San Carlos without sailors, 
all having died of scurvy except one and the cook. The 
San Antonio, alias el Principe (whose captain is D. 
Juan Perez, our countryman from the river Palma), 
arrived here twenty days before the other, although 
she sailed a month and a half later. When she w r as 
about to leave for Monterey the San Carlos appeared, 
and in nursing her crew her own became infected with 
the scourge and eight died. The result is that it has 
been decided that the San Antonio shall return to San 
Bias to fetch sailors for herself and for the San Carlos. 
Let us see how the San Joseph arrives, and if she comes 
in good condition, then the last will be the first to so 
arrive.* The delay of the San Carlos was due to two 
causes. The first was the lack of water owing to the 
leaking of the water tanks; of the four tanks, not one 
contained any, this together with the bad water obtained 
on the coast, occasioned sickness among the crew. The 
second was the error which all were in, respecting the 
situation of this port. It was supposed by everyone, 
even by his Excellency (Galvez) that it was in 33 
or 34 degrees of north latitude, some authors saying 
the one and some the other. Strict orders were given 
to Captain Vila — and to the other — to keep out in 
the open sea till they should arrive in 34 degrees and 
then make shore and search for the port. As, how¬ 
ever, in rei veritate the port is no higher than 32 0 34', 
according to the observations which these gentlemen 
have now made, they went far beyond it, and when 
they searched for it could not find it. For these reasons 
the voyage was much longer than was necessary. As 

* The San Joseph was never heard from; it was sup¬ 
posed she was lost at sea. 


117 


San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 

the sickness of the people became daily worse from 
cold and bad water, they must all have perished had 
they not soon discovered the port, for they were quite 
unable to launch the boat to procure more water or 
to do anything whatever for their preservation. The 
Father Fernando did everything in his power to assist 
the sick, and although he arrived much reduced in 
flesh, he had not the disease and is now well. * * * 

As for myself the journey here has been a truly happy 
one, and without any special hardship to my health. 
I left the frontier infirm in foot and leg, but by God’s 
help with each day I improved and continued my daily 
march as far as such injuries would permit. Now the 
foot is all well like the other; only from) the ankle to 
the middle of the leg it is as it was before, one sore, 
but without swelling, or more pain than it has always 
given me from time to time — in fine there is no cause 
for anxiety.* 

The remainder of Junipero’s letter is given to a 
description of the country through which they trav¬ 
eled and the character and appearance of the 
Indians they encountered. He concludes with the 
assurance that the brethren with him are well and 
contented, and with sending cordial greetings to all 
his friends. 

I pray God may preserve your life and health many 
years. From this port and intended mission of San 
Diego in California Septentrional, July 3rd, 1769. B. 
L. M. de V. R. (I kiss the hands of your reverence.) 
Your affectionate Brother and Servant Fr. Jumpero 
Serra. 


* Palou, Vida, pp. 76-79. 


118 


Junipero Serra 

This letter was sent by the San Antonio, which 
sailed southward with her crew of convalescent 
mariners a few days later. Nine of the crew died 
at sea before the ship reached San Bias. Soon after 
the San Antonio sailed, Portola with sixty-four 
men, including all of the officers, together with the 
friars, Crespi and Gomez, started overland to 
search for the port of Monterey. Only eight sol¬ 
diers appear to have been left to guard the San 
Diego camp, where Fray Junipero, two friars, and 
Doctor Pratt watched over the convalescent. Cap¬ 
tain Vila of the crewless San Carlos, remained to 
guard his ship. Junipero determined to lose no 
further time in founding the first mission in the 
new land. Where now stands the old town of San 
Diego, he raised the cross, blessed it, and dedicated 
the mission to the honored Franciscan, San Diego 
de Alcala. 

It was the sixteenth day of July, the day of the 
“ Triumph of the Holy Cross” celebrated by the 
Spanish church as the anniversary of the great vic¬ 
tory won by the Christians over the Moors in 1212. 
Junipero felt that this was a good omen. He 
hoped, said Palou with artless piety, “ to put to 
flight all the hosts of Hell and subject to the mild 
yoke of our holy faith the barbarity of the Gentile 
Dieguenos.” So was formally founded not only 
the first mission, but the first settlement of civilized 
persons in the state of California. Little did the 
naked, curious savages realize as they watched with 
half-amused, half-scornful interest each movement 



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San Diego and Sailor Sorrows 119 

of the white-faced strangers, and listened full of 
wonder to the pealing of the great, burnished bells, 
that the first blow had been struck depriving them 
forever of their land and their liberty. 


CHAPTER VIII 


MISSIONARY HARDSHIPS 

C ALIFORNIA is a country marvelously rich, 
beautiful, and fertile. It has little in com¬ 
mon with her sister peninsula of the same name, 
unless it is that the sun shines with something of 
equal warmth and brilliancy in them both. In the 
newer California nature has been wonderfully 
prodigal in her gifts. This was particularly true 
at the time of the Spanish occupation. On the foot¬ 
hills, herds of mountain sheep grazed leisurely, and 
where pyramids of rock were piled high in naked 
grandeur, leaped swift-footed antelope or deer. 
Over the lakes circled immense flocks of wild fowl; 
the cool mountain streams and rivers were filled 
with trout and salmon, “ of a flavor that takes from 
Lent half the merit of abstinence,” declared an 
American divine, half a century later. Great fields 
of wild oats, where the tufted quail made their 
covert, ripened annually, ungarnered, in the sun. 
Innumerable berry-bearing bushes and grape- 
yielding vines furnished food for birds and man. 
The valleys were carpeted with flowers of gorgeous 
hue, and long stretches of magnificent live oaks, 
unobstructed by underbrush, formed natural parks 
120 


Missionary Hardships 121 

in which to roam. Yet in this fragrant, sun-kissed 
land, where winter is as spring, heavy with sweet 
blossoms, where the overflowing bounties of nature 
reduce man’s struggle for a livelihood to a mini¬ 
mum, lived a people lower, more degraded, than 
can be found elsewhere in the whole North Ameri¬ 
can continent. Barbarism was not without its 
grandeur among the Indians of the Atlantic slope. 
The Delawares, the Iroquois, the Hurons, the Cher- 
okees were valiant, resolute of spirit, proud, nobly 
proportioned, and possessing an intellect which 
excited more often our admiration than our con¬ 
tempt. But on the other side of the great mountain 
ramparts, in the radiant land between the Sierra 
and the Pacific, the natives were sunk almost to the 
level of the brute creation. There is little to remind 
one of the other North American Indians in the 
character or appearance of the Californian. Some 
ethnologists even claim that the Californian 
Indians are descended from a totally different race. 
It is impossible to reach any definite conclusion 
regarding their origin. All such conclusions can 
be based only upon speculation. It would, how¬ 
ever, seem unlikely that the Californians differed 
in their descent from other races living on the con¬ 
tinent at the time of its discovery by Columbus. 
Though there may have been races extinct before 
the coming of the Indians as we know them, it is 
not impossible that the present North American 
Indian is of Asiatic stock. He bears in many 
respects a striking resemblance to the Chinese. 


122 


Juniper o Serra 

This resemblance, while it is more marked in the 
tribes nearer the Atlantic coast, can still be traced 
in the Eskimos and Kamchatkans. That detached 
families of these peoples later left their bleak 
northern home and wandered southward in quest 
of summer skies, finally reached the warm and fer¬ 
tile land of California and settled there, seems not 
improbable. 

In this winterless climate, where the days were 
balmy and always young, the dewy nights cool and 
refreshing, where man’s simple wants were sup¬ 
plied by nature’s prodigality without the necessity 
of great exertion, the Indians soon developed a 
slothfulness of mind and body surpassing that of 
any other people. One historian claims for them, 
however, the possession of intellectual faculties 
capable of considerable development. 

Their stupidity was the result rather of mental tor¬ 
pidity caused by idleness and the absence of those kinds 
of stimulus which in other lands have produced civiliza¬ 
tion than any absolute limitations of their natural 
forces.* 

The Californians were slothful, yet inordinately 
fond of amusement; good-natured, yet treacherous; 
in their habits and their persons inexpressibly 
filthy; fond of bathing, yet delighting after their 
bath to wallow in the dirt. The men went usually 
nude, often painting themselves in grotesque stripes 

* Hittell, History of California, I, p. 745. 


Missionary Hardships 123 

of red and black. The women wore an apron-like 
garment of fringed tule grass; they were tatooed 
from childhood on the face, breast, and arms, using 
for this purpose a thorn of the cactus, and a kind 
of charcoal made from the century plant. The 
complexion of the Californian was nearer black 
than brown; his forehead low and retreating; his 
mouth large, with thick lips and prominent cheek 
bones; his nose flat. He wore his long, straight 
hair twisted into a topknot, or loose and flowing. 
His dwelling was of the most primitive kind, con¬ 
sisting of an excavation some three or four feet deep 
and ten to thirty feet wide; around the brink willow 
poles were sunk and drawn together at the top, 
thus forming the conical shape of the tepee. Exces¬ 
sive indolence made the men indifferent hunters. 
Rather than chase the deer and antelope on the 
mountain slopes, they fed on grasshoppers, frogs, 
rats, mice, skunks, or larger game if it happened to 
come their way. On the coast, a stranded whale 
and fish formed their favorite diet. Their princi¬ 
pal sustenance however was obtained from acorns, 
which they ground into a kind of flour and baked. 
It was declared by travelers to be not unpalatable. 

They showed some ingenuity in their manufac¬ 
ture of baskets, in which they cooked their food. 
These baskets were made of fine grass, so closely 
woven as to be completely water-tight. They were 
frequently ornamented with bright feathers and 
bits of mother-of-pearl taken from the interior of 
shells. When the activity of their minds was quick- 


124 Jurripero Serra 

ened under the tutelage of the Franciscan Fathers, 
they wove delicate patterns into their baskets. A 
particularly pretty design was a butterfly with 
folded wings. The spotted snake, garter snake, 
water scorpion, and deer teeth were also skillfully 
represented. The baskets served them for a vari¬ 
ety of purposes, but principally for water vessels, 
cooking vessels, and drinking cups. When a squaw 
desired to prepare a meal for her lord, she placed 
the raw food in a bowl-shaped basket, into which 
she had previously poured water; she then threw 
red hot stones into the receptacle in quick succes¬ 
sion until its contents were deemed sufficiently 
boiled. 

The Californians were divided into innumera¬ 
ble petty tribes, each one of which spoke a mutu¬ 
ally unintelligible language, and this even when 
living within fifteen or twenty miles of each other. 
Their general characteristics varied but slightly. 
Polygamy prevailed in most of the tribes. It was 
not uncommon for a man to wed an entire family 
of sisters and even the mother if she chanced to be 
a widow. In this particular the Dieguenos and 
their near neighbors showed a slight improvement 
over the more northern tribes, for their chiefs only 
were permitted a plurality of women; though 
others of the community were privileged to change 
their wives as often as they desired. There is a 
belief among some writers on California that her 
people were cowardly, easily intimidated, and as 
easily subjugated. The Californian was not a 


Missionary Hardships 125 

coward. His understanding may have been natu¬ 
rally feeble, his disposition naturally treacherous, 
but he was a brave fighter, though his extraordinary 
slothfulness not infrequently kept him from engag¬ 
ing in conflicts. The training a Dieguenos youth 
received before he was adjudged worthy to become 
a warrior was more than Spartan in its severity. He 
was whipped until he became unconscious; he was 
then placed upon a nest of virulent ants, which 
were roused to anger by constant stirring with 
sticks. The ants, infuriated by this treatment, 
swarmed from their nest and crawled over every 
portion of the youth’s body, even into his eyes, ears, 
nose, and mouth, causing the most excruciating suf¬ 
fering. If this ordeal was unflinchingly endured, 
the youth was pronounced worthy of becoming a 
warrior. His weapon, besides the invariable bow 
and arrow, was a javelin four or five feet in length, 
made of wood and sharply flint-tipped. The men 
displayed considerable skill in their manner of 
hurling this weapon. The arrows were sometimes 
poisoned with the venom of serpents or the juice of 
a poisonous plant. The custom of scalping was not 
universal, though a habit of amputating for tro¬ 
phies the hands, feet, or head of a fallen enemy 
prevailed. The French explorer, La Perouse, tells 
of another custom still more revolting. 

When they had vanquished and killed on the battle 
field a chief or any warrior, renowned for his bravery, 
they would eat some portion of him, not from hatred 
or revenge, but rather as a homage which they rendered 


126 


Junipero Serra 

his courage and in the belief that such a nutrition would 
augment their own valor. * 

The manner of dealing with their own wounded 
or sick was sufficiently simple. In cases of fever 
or similar ailments, cold water or an emetic was 
used, or sometimes 

* * * the sufferer was placed naked upon dry 

sand or ashes with a fire close to his feet and a bowl of 
water or gruel at his head and then left for nature to 
take its course, while his friends and relatives sit around 
and howl him into life or into eternity, t 

Their medicine men were commonly sorcerers 
who held intercourse with supernatural beings and 
chanted incantations. They frequently extorted a 
kind of blackmail from their victims by threaten¬ 
ing them with evil. They were, however, familiar 
with the benefits of certain herbs, which they 
crushed and applied as poultices to wounds, and 
they also understood the uses of the sweat bath. The 
Californians had no domestic animals. They had 
never seen a horse, mule, or cow until the Span¬ 
iards entered their country; even dogs, cats, and the 
ordinary barnyard fowl were unknown to them. 
In regard to their religion they can scarcely be said 
to have formulated a system or anything approach¬ 
ing to one. The majority of the tribes venerated 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 203. 

t Bancroft, Native Races, I, p. 419. 


Missionary Hardships 127 

the coyote. An unroofed enclosure was their place 
of worship. Here they placed an image of the god 
“ Chinigchinich ” made from the skin of a coyote 
and stuffed to resemble the living animal. “ Chi¬ 
nigchinich ” came down from the stars to instruct 
them in many things, but principally how to dance 
and, having accomplished this, returned again to 
his home in the skies. This heaven was not the 
North American Indian’s “happy hunting 
ground ” but a place where people would live for¬ 
ever “ eating, drinking and dancing and having 
wives in abundance.” Father Boscana says “ such 
was the delight with which they took part in their 
festivities that they often continued dancing day 
and night and some-times entire weeks.” 

This then was the object of their existence, to eat, 
to drink, to dance, to have wives in abundance. 
Such briefly were the savages, for whose sake Fray 
Junipero Serra had painfully journeyed long 
stretches of desert country. A great wave of com¬ 
passion for these wretched, depraved creatures 
swept over him. He came amongst them prepared, 
nay longing, to lay down his life to secure their sal¬ 
vation. If there was a touch of pious selfishness in 
his fervent desire for a crown of martyrdom, he was 
none the less animated by a magnificent pity, a won¬ 
derful love and sympathy toward these children of 
the wilderness. 

The Dieguenos were not a shy folk. They flocked 
daily in large numbers to the little settlement and 
watched with augmenting curiosity the movements 


128 


Jumpero Serra 

of the Spaniards. They did not confine themselves 
however, to this harmless occupation; being expert 
thieves and apparently enamored of all kinds of 
cloth, they succeeded in abstracting such quanti¬ 
ties that the Spaniards bade fair to retain nothing 
but the clothes on their backs. It is strange that 
dress, the most cumbersome paraphernalia im¬ 
posed on man by the artificial forms of civilization, 
should be the object of the greatest envy of unbur¬ 
dened savages. 

The Spaniards soon found the situation harass¬ 
ing. The number of sick was constantly increasing. 
The few who remained well were unable to ade¬ 
quately guard the missions and care for their 
stricken companions. Fortunately the savages 
shunned the food of the Spaniards, attributing to 
it the cause of the disease which had so decimated 
their ranks. If a morsel of sweetmeat or dried 
fruit was placed in an Indian’s mouth, he promptly 
spat it out again, as if it had been poison. While 
the Dieguenos refused the material food of the 
Spaniards, they showed equal persistency in declin¬ 
ing the spiritual fare Junipero was so anxious to 
bestow on them. Day and night they haunted the 
mission, yet not one among them evinced the small¬ 
est inclination to become a convert. They contin¬ 
ued their thieving in the most audacious manner. 
In vain the Spaniards tried persuasion, threats, and 
the noise of firearms. The Indians only laughed 
and scoffed at them and grew bolder in their depre¬ 
dations. 


Missionary Hardships 129 

One night in their balsas (crafts constructed of 
tule, the most primitive means of navigation found 
among any people), they paddled out to the San 
Carlos and cut away portions of the sail. This raid 
made it necessary to detach two of the soldiers from 
the mission and place them on board the vessel, 
thus diminishing the small guard on shore. The 
Indians laughed at this precaution. They deter¬ 
mined on a grand plundering raid in which every 
ranchero in the neighborhood was to join. It was 
a hot day in the middle of August. Because it was 
a feast day in the church, Padre Parron went out 
to the ship to say mass, while Fray Junipero assisted 
by Padre Vizcaino celebrated mass in the mission. 

The services were concluded and Junipero had 
withdrawn to his hut when the savages with fierce 
yells swarmed into the mission. They were armed 
with bows and arrows, flint-headed javelins, and 
two-edged wooden swords that cut like steel. They 
seized everything they could lay their hands upon; 
even the coverings of the sick and dying did not 
escape their greed. The force which had to meet 
this formidable horde of thieves consisted of four 
soldiers, a blacksmith, a carpenter, and a boy serv¬ 
ant. The savages let fly a volley of arrows. The 
little handful of Spaniards fought bravely. The 
blacksmith in particular, we are told, was extraor¬ 
dinarily valiant, which was afterwards piously 
attributed to his having come from mass where he 
had received communion. Without stopping to 
put on his leather cuirass he rushed out, shouting 


130 


Junipero Serra 

as he fired, “ Live the faith of Jesus Christ and may 
these dogs His enemies die! ” * 

Junipero and Vizcaino remained in their hut 
while the fight was in progress, fervently praying 
that no lives be lost among either Spaniards or Gen¬ 
tiles. Junipero was not a fighting priest. That he 
was not wanting in personal courage, in intrepid 
daring, his life in California conclusively proves. 
It was characteristic of him that he would die 
rather than send an unconverted Indian into eter¬ 
nity and the jaws of hell, for that such would be the 
fate of every unbaptized savage was his profound 
conviction. 

While the fierce conflict was raging outside Viz¬ 
caino cautiously raised the blanket which did duty 
for a door and peered out. He received an arrow 
wound in his hand. He had scarcely retreated 
from this dangerous point of observation when the 
boy servant, Joseph Maria, staggered into the hut. 
He threw himself, bleeding and panting, at Juni- 
pero’s feet. 

“ Padre,” he gasped, with his dying breath, 
“ absolve me, for the Indians have killed me.” t 
The savages were finally put to flight. Their 
loss, though not great, was sufficient to inspire them 
with a wholesome respect for their opponents. 
They were not again inclined to test the supremacy 

* Palou, Vida, p. 84. Viva la Fe de Jesu Christo , 
y mucran esos perros enemigos de ell a. 
t Ibid., p. 85. 


Missionary Hardships 131 

of firearms over flint-headed arrows and javelins. 
The Spaniards’ loss consisted of one killed and 
three wounded, among the latter being the valiant 
blacksmith. A stockade was now thrown around 
the mission, a precautionary measure which 
hitherto had been strangely neglected. The Indians 
did not remain long absent. They returned, bear¬ 
ing their wounded comrades, with the firm belief 
that the healing capacity of the Spaniards’ medi¬ 
cine was in direct ratio to the destructive power of 
their firearms, which they called “ creatures of 
thunder.” They were received kindly and the sur¬ 
geon bound up their wounds. Junipero, by means 
of gifts, induced a boy of fifteen to remain in the 
mission to learn Spanish. The youth proved him¬ 
self an apt scholar. The Dieguenos spoke a lan¬ 
guage soft, harmonious, and containing all the 
sounds of the Latin alphabet. This similarity 
made it possible for the savage to adjust his tongue 
to the Spanish language with comparative, facility 
and accuracy. 

The Lord’s Prayer in the Dieguenos language is as 
follows: * 

Nagua anall amai tacaguach naguanetunxp mama- 
mulpo cayuca am amaibo mamatam meyayam canaao 
amat amaibo quexuic echasan naguagui nana chon- 
naquin nipil meneque pachis echeyuchapo nagua quexuic 
naguaich nacaguaihpo namechamel anipuch uch guelich 
cuaipo Nacuiuch-pambo-cuchlich-cuiatpo-namat, Napu- 
ija. 


* Bancroft, Native Races, III, p. 685. 


132 Junfpero Serra 

When the boy understood what was said to him, 
Junipero urged him to go among his tribal friends 
and seek a parent willing to bring his infant son to 
the mission for baptism. The friar promised that 
the child should be given a dress, such as the Span¬ 
iards wore, and thereafter be considered their kins¬ 
man. The youth departed on his errand and soon 
returned accompanied by a man bearing an infant 
in his arms. Behind them came a horde of curious 
savages. No sooner did Fray Junipero see the pro¬ 
cession than with great joy he summoned the few 
able-bodied soldiers in the mission to assist at this 
first baptism in Alta California. He took the child 
in his arms, covered it with a piece of cloth, and 
began the ceremonies. When he was about to 
sprinkle holy water over the little one’s head, the 
Indian snatched the infant from his arms and fled. 
Fray Junipero, aghast at such sacrilege, stood like a 
statue, still holding the shell in his outstretched 
hand. 

The soldiers were furious. They regarded the 
flight as an insult to their religion and their priest. 
There appears to have been more indignation felt 
by the Spaniards at this act of the Indians, than at 
their numerous pilfering raids and the recent attack 
on their lives. The soldiers clamored for revenge; 
it was with difficulty Junipero prevented them 
from going in pursuit of the fleeing savages. This 
incident was a bitter disappointment to Junipero. 
Even years afterwards he could not speak of the 
babe who had so nearly become a “ child of God ” 


Missionary Hardships 133 

without tears starting to his eyes.* Although the 
Indians continued to come fearlessly to the mission, 
they obstinately refused to fall into “ the apostolic 
and evangelic net,” so temptingly spread out before 
them by the indefatigable friar. 

In the meanwhile the sickness among the Span¬ 
iards continued to spread. Many died, eight of the 
Catalan Volunteers among the number. Junipero 
himself was smitten by the scourge, but it does not 
appear that he was long disabled. Vizcaino suf¬ 
fered more and more from the wound in his hand 
received on the day of the fight. In the hastily con¬ 
structed huts and canvas-covered sheds that shielded 
them from the intense heat of the sun lay a score 
or more wretched soldiers and sailors dying of the 
scurvy. Before many months had passed, the little 
graveyard beyond the palisades was filled with half 
the number of those who had been left by Portola 
in San Diego. 

The strength of the absent explorers had also 
been severely tried. They had suffered many hard¬ 
ships. Sixteen of their number had lost the use of 
their limbs from scurvy. They had to be fastened 
to wooden frames and strapped to the backs of 
mules. Portola and Rivera had not escaped the 
sickness. To these physical trials had been added 
the discouragement of failure. They had jour¬ 
neyed far in search of Sebastian Vizcaino’s 
famoso puerto and had not found it. As a matter 


* Palou, Vida, p. 86. 


134 Junipero Serra 

of fact, they had more than once gazed down dis¬ 
consolately on the very harbor they were seeking 
and, failing to recognize it, had continued their 
northward march. Twice they had encamped in 
the shadow of the Santa Lucia Mountain on the 
shores of the beautiful Carmel Bay, less than five 
miles from the port of Monterey. To be sure, their 
failure to recognize the port led to the discovery 
of the great bay of San Francisco, upon whose 
waters hitherto no European eyes had ever rested. 
Palou considered the finding of the magnificent 
harbor in the light of a miracle.* He relates that 
when discussing with Galvez the names of the 
prospective missions of Alta California, Fray 
Junipero had said, “ And for our Father Saint 
Francis is there no mission?” And the visitador 
had replied: “If Saint Francis wants a mission 
let him cause his port to be found and it will be put 
there.” 

The saint apparently readily accepted the chal¬ 
lenge, for, selecting the finest port in the country 
as his own, he promptly led the explorers to it. 
After this discovery Portola’s party retraced their 
steps to the bay of Carmel, upon the shores of 
which they encamped two weeks, diligently search¬ 
ing the surrounding country for the port of Mon¬ 
terey. The provisions were almost exhausted. 
They were reduced to eating gulls, even a mule 
was killed to supply them with food, though of this 


* Palou, Vida, p. 88. 


Missionary Hardships 135 

latter fare only a few Catalan Volunteers and the 
Baja Californian neophytes availed themselves. 

Finally Portola, after a consultation with his 
officers, decided to abandon the search and return 
to San Diego. He caused a large wooden cross to 
be erected on a knoll near the beach, bearing the 
inscription: “ Dig at the foot and thou wilt find 
writing.” The cross could be seen far out at sea, 
and was intended to attract the attention of the San 
Jose , or any ship that might sail up the coast search¬ 
ing for the port of Monterey. The buried letter 
contained an account of the expedition, also a 
request that the commander of the vessel sail down 
the coast and attempt to communicate with the 
land party and bring it succor. Another cross, bear¬ 
ing the same inscription was set up on the shores 
of the very harbor they were seeking. This accom¬ 
plished, Portola began his return march to San 
Diego. As they drew near their destination, the 
explorer speculated much concerning the fate of 
the comrades from whom they had parted six 
months before. Would they find them alive? 
Would the transports be in the harbor? Or would 
they find the San Diego settlement abandoned? 

Each one of us [wrote Fray Juan Crespi in his jour¬ 
nal] rambled on according to his disposition and mood, 
and in truth all concurred in the belief that if those we 
left had endured the cruelty of sickness and death there 
would be nothing left of the settlement but a wilderness. 
Again there was much fear from the perverse character 
of the Dieguenos, whose greed in robbery is unparal- 


136 


Junipero Serra 

leled and we feared lest they might be too forward in 
any disaster against the mission and its small guard. 
The only information we were able to acquire from 
the Indians along the coast, notwithstanding the efforts 
that they made in this respect, gave some grounds to 
fear that in San Diego we might find oureselves in the 
same straits in which we now were.* 

If there had lingered in any of the men a taste for 
seeking adventure in a new country, they had 
enough of it and something more than enough. 
They had had in the wilderness six months of 
almost continuous marching over mountains, plains, 
and valleys and during that time, from sunrise to 
sunset, little more exciting occupation than that of 
quieting the teasing of their hungry stomachs with 
promises of future fare. 

Finally on January 24, 1770, still anxiously spec¬ 
ulating, they reached San Diego. When Junipero 
saw the little cavalcade advancing with slow, halt¬ 
ing steps, with distressed and weary mien, he sadly 
realized that the sufferings of the past months had 
not been confined to those who had remained in 
the mission. 


* Palou’s Noticias, II, p. 243. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE COMING OF THE SHIP 

P ORTOLA was completely disheartened. He 
determined to leave the country. Everything 
had gone against him. His failure to find Mon¬ 
terey, the scarcity of provisions, the continued 
absence of the San Jose with fresh supplies, the 
sickness among the men, all these appeared to him 
not only adequate, but imperative reasons for aban¬ 
doning an enterprise which had been so auspi¬ 
ciously begun for the glory of the Catholic faith and 
the Spanish king. Portola was not gifted with the 
characteristics of mind or temperament requisite 
to the making of a great explorer and successful 
leader. He was a simple, kind-hearted gentleman, 
fond of a lively jest, affable in his deportment, con¬ 
siderate towards his men, yet knowing how to main¬ 
tain strict discipline at all times. While he was in 
command, we do not hear of an instance of wanton 
misconduct on the part of the soldiers towards 
native women. In his long marches through the 
country, he was assiduous in efforts to gain the con¬ 
fidence and friendship of the Indians. This is not 
small praise to extend to any man, and certainly 
not when that man is a Spanish soldier of the eight- 
137 


138 


Junipero Serra 

eenth century. But Don Gaspar de Portola was 
better adapted to govern a conquered country, than 
to conquer and to explore a new one. That spirit 
of discovery, of romantic adventure, a spirit en¬ 
hanced by dangers and difficulties, rather than sub¬ 
dued by them, was not his. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that immediately upon his return to San 
Diego he should determine to abandon the country 
and retrace his steps to Baja California. He was 
supported in this somewhat inglorious resolution by 
his officers, Captain Rivera y Moncada and Lieu¬ 
tenant Pedro Fages. The former was probably 
actuated in his acquiescense by indifference to the 
success of an enterprise in which he occupied so 
subordinate a place, while the latter did not 
possess judgment sufficient to recognize the mistake 
involved in such a retreat. 

But there was a man of different spirit with the 
expedition who had sagacity to perceive the mistake 
and courage to combat it. Junipero’s character 
seems to include qualities apparently the most con¬ 
tradictory. He possessed in an eminent degree 
that practical intelligence which in temporal affairs 
is essential to success. He was a great missionary, 
but an equally great pioneer. He recognized 
obstacles in his path, only to combat them. Neither 
disappointment nor danger nor the weariness of 
delay could move him from his purpose. He studied 
the resources of the country in which he found him¬ 
self; learned its physical capacities and how best 
to employ the materials that were at hand. He dis- 


139 


The Coming of the Ship 

dained hardships. A peasant and priest, he had 
been trained from earliest youth to the greatest 
abstemiousness in the matter of material food and 
comforts. 

A man of vigorous action, acute intelligence, hav¬ 
ing the endurance of the most daring explorer, 
indifferent to self-interest, influenced solely by 
motives of piety, it is not surprising that he reso¬ 
lutely refused to acknowledge the necessity of aban¬ 
doning California. Portola’s decision must, indeed, 
have appeared to him pitiably weak. Moreover, he 
was convinced that the port of Monterey had been 
rediscovered.* His quick mind had recognized 
Vizcaino’s landmarks locating Monterey, from the 
descriptions the explorers themselves gave of the 
port they had passed by. The diminishing food 
supplies did not in his opinion merit the importance 
attached to it by the officers. “ What more do we 
need,” he said, “ than a tortilla a day and wild 

* It was already the month of March and neither of 
the two boats which were expected had appeared; the 
Venerable Father remained firm in his determination 
not to leave [Alta California] ; he went to the ship to 
discuss this matter with the sea commander D. Vicente 
Vila and addressed him in this manner: Senor, the 
land commander has determined to retire and abandon 
this Port on the 20th if before then neither of the boats 
arrive with succor; he is impelled to this step because of 
the scarcity of provisions as well as the general opinion 
that the Port [Monterey] has been silted up although 
I suspect that they failed to recognize it. That is my 
opinion also [replied the commander], judging from 


140 


Jumpero Serra 

herbs of the field? ” * He reminded his compatri¬ 
ots that one hundred sixty-six years had elapsed 
since the Spaniards first discovered San Diego, and 
not till the present time had an attempt been made 
to establish a settlement. If they abandoned the 
country now, he feared centuries might elapse ere 
the Government would decide to send out another 
expedition. 

He may have thought to influence them through 
appeals to their patriotism, or through pride in 
achieving a noble but arduous task. Failing in this, 
he resorted to his last and strongest argument. With 
all the eloquence at his command he pleaded for 
the thousands of souls which would be left in the 
outer darkness of heathendom if the banner of the 
cross were now withdrawn. But his devout attach¬ 
ment to the cause upon which they were engaged 
failed lamentably to influence his companions. It 
is however likely that had it not been for Junipero’s 
inflexible opposition, the disheartened Spaniards 

that which I have heard and have read in the reports, 
the Port is in the very place where they raised the cross. 
Therefore Senor [said the Venerable Father] I am 
resolved to remain, even though the Expedition leaves, 
and with me, my colleague Father Crespi; if you wish, 
we will come aboard as soon as the Expedition leaves, 
and when the other packet boat arrives, we will go by 
sea and search for Monterey. The commander gladly 
agreed to assist him in this, and deciding to keep the 
matter secret, the Venerable Father returned to his 
Mission.—Palou, Vida, pp. 95-96. 

* Ibid, p. 92. 


The Coming of the Ship 141 

would have abandoned San Diego without further 
delay. 

As it was, however, Portola ordered an inventory 
taken of the provisions. He then had a certain 
quantity put aside for their return journey, and 
calculating the length of time the remaining sup¬ 
plies would last, he fixed the day of departure for 
March 19, if in the meantime no transport arrived 
in the harbor. This resolution was publicly 
announced. The tidings were received by the men 
with shouts of joy. Their spirits rose to the highest 
pitch, although they thought the time of waiting 
had been made unnecessarily long, an opinion 
which the officers shared. Nothing was talked of 
but the approaching departure. Palou tells us that 
every word was like an arrow piercing the heart of 
Junipero. On his knees, day and night, he ex¬ 
hausted himself in prayer. An inward flame of 
overwhelming compassion for the savage multitude 
around them consumed him. With bitter sobs, with 
passionate outpourings of his soul, he implored the 
intercession of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the 
expedition, to speed the sailing of the supply ship 
that the port be not abandoned. He would arise 
from these impassioned prayers only to return to 
them again with renewed ardor. If he had been 
a mother pleading for the life of her first-born, his 
supplications could not have been more fervent. 
Every fiber of his being was like a quivering nerve 
at the thought of abandoning these miserable 
savages. He determined not to leave San Diego, 


142 


Jumpero Serra 

even if he had to remain alone. He confided his 
resolution to Fray Juan Crespi, who unhesitatingly 
declared his intention of remaining with him. Then 
he wrote to Palou, informing him of his determina¬ 
tion not to desert his post. 

If we see the food supplies and hope are to be ex¬ 
hausted, I will remain alone with P. Juan Crespi to 
hold out until the last extremity.* 

Thus simply did he announce to Palou his stout 
hearted determination. 

It is characteristic of Junipero that he did not 
once urge his friend to hasten the forwarding of 
supplies or mention the kind of provisions which 
would be acceptable or necessary to them. He 
knew Palou would do his utmost to relieve the dis¬ 
tress at San Diego; to dwell upon this distress was 
therefore purposeless. But there were other sup¬ 
plies, the lack of which gave him great concern, 
and these he carefully enumerates. 

If your reverence should see that they are going to 
send the live stock which was left in Velicata, then send 
us a little incense, which we forgot in spite of the fact 
that we brought the incense-burners; and the Calen¬ 
dars might be sent if they have arrived, and the new 
Saintly Unctions in case they have arrived from Guada¬ 
lajara. t 

These letters were carried south by Captain 

* Palou, Vida, p. 93. 

t Ibid., pp. 90-94. 


143 


The Coming of the Ship 

Rivera, who with some nineteen or twenty soldiers 
and a long train of pack mules left in February for 
Velicata to get the live stock Junipero refers to. 
Padre Vizcaino, whose hand was still causing him 
trouble, due to the arrow wound he had received 
the day of the attack on the mission, accompanied 
Rivera. Having written his letters, Junipero set 
about to see what influence he could bring to bear 
upon individual officers of the expedition. Captain 
Vila, commanding the crewless San Carlos, shared 
the friar’s belief that Portola had rediscovered 
Monterey without recognizing he had done so, and 
that when he had erected the second cross he had in 
very truth marked the site of the lost harbor. Juni¬ 
pero, probably suspecting that the sea captain’s 
opinion coincided with his own, determined to 
interview him privately on board his ship with the 
result that Captain Vila secretly promised to 
remain in San Diego with the two friars and await 
the arrival of the tardy transport and then sail up 
the coast to search for Monterey.* In the mean¬ 
while preparations for abandoning San Diego pro¬ 
ceeded rapidly. As the date fixed for the departure 
drew near, Junipero proposed holding a novena 
(nine days of public prayer) in honor, of St. 
Joseph. The novena was to culminate in a solemn 
mass and supplication on March 19, the day before 
the final one of abandoning California. The good- 
natured commander agreed readily enough to a 


Palou, Vida, pp. 95-96. 


144 Junipero Serra 

plan which he probably conceived would in no way 
interfere with the ultimate one of departure. He, 
himself, prayed and packed with commendable in¬ 
dustry. Junipero’s anxiety waxed daily greater. He 
prayed ceaselessly. The supreme morning arrived 
at last. This day was to determine the fate of Cali¬ 
fornia, of the Indians, of Junipero himself. The 
anxious friar could not rest. With the first faint 
streak of dawn he was abroad and on the hills. It 
was a beautiful morning. The air was soft and 
singularly still, as if listening to the heart throbs of 
Junipero. The blue bay sparkled in the sunlight, 
the hills were radiant with bright flowers and 
spring verdure. California in the springtime is one 
of the rare places of the world; nature there seems 
to thrill deliciously with the consciousness of her 
own beauty. 

But for once the Fray Junipero’s heart was not 
susceptible to her influence. Sad and silent, he stood 
on the heights. With cowl thrown back and pale 
sensitive face turned seaward, his gaze swept the 
horizon. Would God send the ship that day ? 
Would California be saved ? Or would he, with 
his faithful brother and the doughty sailor, be left 
to challenge fate alone amidst the savages of this 
unknown land ? Hour after hour glided by; the 
morning slowly passed, then the long afternoon; 
yet no glint of white sails shone on the sea. The 
suspense to Junipero was agonizing. Still he con¬ 
tinued to watch and pray. Just as the last rays of 
the sinking sun were gilding the crests of the hills. 


145 


The Coming of the Ship 

there appeared “ like a winged messenger from 
heaven,” far out at sea, a sail. Junipero’s heart 
bounded at the sight and into his haggard cheeks 
came the flush of joy. The news spread swiftly 
throughout the little settlement. Every man able to 
walk or hobble hurried down to the beach and 
strained his eyes to catch a glimpse through the 
deepening twilight of the distant ship. Then dark¬ 
ness fell over sea and land. Officers, soldiers, sail¬ 
ors, and friars returned to the mission to await 
with what patience they could the morrow. Juni- 
pero in the exuberance of his gratitude promised 
St. Joseph that he would chant a solemn mass in his 
honor on the nineteenth of every month. This 
promise he faithfully kept to the last days of his 
life. 

The Spaniards were early astir the next morning. 
But the fond hope they had entertained of seeing a 
well-laden transport safely anchored in port was 
rudely dispelled. The keenest eye amongst them 
failed to descry upon the wide horizon the most 
distant sign of a sail. Nevertheless the fact that a 
ship had been distinctly visible the previous day 
was sufficient to arrest for a time further prepara¬ 
tions for an immediate departure. Finally, four 
days after the first distant glimpse had been 
obtained of her, the ship, San Antonio, dropped 
anchor in the bay. Nine months had passed since 
she had left to obtain supplies for the little band of 
Spaniards in San Diego. She brought with her, 
besides plentiful provisions, a crew for the San 



146 Jumpero Serra 

Carlos . The San Antonio's commander, Juan 
Perez, had, on leaving San Bias, received orders 
to sail direct to Monterey, where it was confidently 
expected Portola would be found engaged in estab¬ 
lishing the second California settlement. Perez 
accordingly passed San Diego without making port 
and sailed on up the coast. Running into the Santa 
Barbara channel to obtain fresh water, he learned 
from the natives that his countrymen were not at 
Monterey but had long since returned to San Diego. 
This information, combined with the fact that his 
ship had lost an anchor, induced Perez to turn 
southward again. As we have seen, he arrived at 
San Diego just in time to prevent the abandonment, 
not only of the settlement, but of California. 

The San Antonio carried dispatches from the 
visitador general, Jose de Galvez, and from the 
Viceroy de Croix which perhaps caused Portola to 
feel grateful he had not already abandoned the 
country. Galvez was not the man to condone easily 
the relinquishment of an enterprise he had so 
enthusiastically fathered, and Portola might have 
found his position as officer in his Majesty’s army 
subject to awkward limitations, while his pride 
would certainly have been confounded. Prepara¬ 
tions in the mission now took on a different charac¬ 
ter. It was no longer a question of ingloriously 
retiring from the California conquest, but of 
energetically pushing it to a culmination. For Fray 
Jumpero Serra this was a triumphant hour, and 
perhaps the happiest he had experienced since his 


147 


The Coming of the Ship 

ordination in the Franciscan brotherhood. After a 
consultation among the leaders of the expedition, it 
was decided to resume the search for Monterey 
without delay. That there should be no mistake in 
recognizing the port a second time, Junipero de¬ 
termined to be one of the exploring party himself. 

It was arranged that he and Dr. Pedro Pratt 
should go by sea with Perez on the San Antonio, 
while Portola, with Fages, Padre Crespi, and part 
of the soldiers, marched up the coast over the same 
route they had previously traveled. These arrange¬ 
ments having been completed, Junipero states that 
he had 

* * * already embarked all that could be carried 

except a bed, when on Holy Saturday very late, I 
received a message from the Captain, our citizen Don 
Juan Perez, that on that very night he had to hur¬ 
riedly embark.* 

In all haste, Junipero went down to the beach and 
was taken on board the vessel. But the wind sud¬ 
denly changed, and the next morning the San 
Antonio lay becalmed in the mouth of the port, 
where she remained for twenty-four hours. Part of 
this time the friar, who appears to have abhorred 
every idle moment, occupied in writing letters. It 
was not an easy task. After concluding a letter to 
the “ Senor Illmo ” (presumably the viceroy) he 
writes to Palou: 

If I should not have time to write to the College 
to the Father Guardian I beg you to do so in my name, 

* Palou, Vida, p. 98. 


148 


Jumper o Serra 

giving him an account of everything and inform him 
that this letter is written, while seated on the floor of 
the cabin, with considerable difficulty.* 

He recounts all that has transpired in San Diego 
since the arrival of Perez. We realize a little of his 
thirst for news during the long year in which not a 
word from the outside world has reached him, when 
he tells Palou with a touch of disappointment per¬ 
ceptible in the telling, that the San Antonio did not 
bring him one letter. He then comments with 
eagerness on the gossip that Perez was able to retail, 
such as the death of Clement XIII. and the possible 
election of a new pope chosen from the Franciscan 
brotherhood, and adds, “ In this wilderness I am 
greatly pleased at this good fortune.” He cannot 
refrain from again reminding his friend to send the 
church supplies he asked for in his former letter. 

When there is an opportunity I will appreciate it if 
you procure for us wax and incense for mass. * * * 

Sea of the south — opposite port of San Diego, April 
16, 1770 B. L. M. Your Reverence’s affectionate 
friend, brother, servant. Fr. Junipero Serra.t 

It was extraordinary that a voyage of a few de¬ 
grees up the coast, which in these days could be 
readily accomplished by the clumsiest of sailing 
crafts in a short period, should then have occupied 

* Palou, Vida, p. 99. 

t Ibid., pp. 98-100. 


The Coming of the Ship 149 

almost seven weeks. Portola and his men had been 
in camp eight days ere the San Antonio sighted 
Point Pinos, the thickly-wooded headland of the 
bay of Monterey. A great bonfire had been lighted 
on the Point to guide the ship into port. It appears 
that on this occasion Portola had experienced no 
difficulty in recognizing the harbor for which he 
had so long and so vainly searched but a few months 
before. Junipero was enchanted with the beauties 
of Monterey. 

It lay folded in the protecting embrace of tree- 
clad hills. The fragrant odors of early summer 
filled the air, which here was healthfully invigor¬ 
ating after the hot, dry climate of San Diego. The 
light mistiness that in the first months of summer 
creeps up as the sun ascends, and frequently 
increases in density in the early hours of the after¬ 
noon, communicates a fresh, invigorating glow to 
the body, particularly grateful to one who comes 
from the enervating heat of the more southerly 
coast. The French traveler, La Perouse, who 
visited Monterey some sixteen years later, wrote: 

Our European cultivators can form no conception of 
so abundant fertility. Fruit trees are still very scarce, 
but the climate is extremely proper for their cultivation 
and differs little from the southern provinces of France, 
at least the cold is never more intense, while the heats 
of summer are much more moderate on account of the 
continual fogs that prevail.* 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, pp. 185- 
186. 


150 


Junipero Serra 

Towards evening this misty curtain slowly lifts 
and the sun sets over the sea with a glow of magical 
colors. 

As the San Antonio drew into the wide entrance 
of the bay and sailed down the shore, Junipero 
could see the tall forest trees on the hills, and dis¬ 
tinguish the pine, the cypress, the beautiful live 
oak, the occidental plane trees, every tree growing 
in a kind of isolated grandeur in the midst of flower- 
spangled carpets of verdure, thereby giving the 
effect of beautiful parks, rather than of a wilder¬ 
ness. 

Both on land and water, birds abounded. The 
long-winged gulls, the gray and white pelicans, 
their great pouches filled with fishes, the voracious 
cormorants, the pretty little sand-pipers, were per¬ 
haps those most seen from the San Antonio's decks. 
It may also have been the time for the annual visit 
of the whales, the finbacks, the huge, rough hump¬ 
backs, or the sperm whale, and their spouting and 
lashing, breaking the smooth surface of the water 
into surging foam, may have added interest to the 
scenes of the newly found harbor. 

Portola, Padre Crespi, Fages, and the soldiers 
were all on the beach to extend a hearty welcome to 
Fray Junipero and his companions as they disem¬ 
barked. This reunion, however, was not without a 
touch of the tragic; the surgeon, Dr. Pratt, had 
become insane during the sea voyage. The ample 
supply of medicines he carried were unlabeled and 
remained, in consequence, useless to his compan- 


151 


The Coming of the Ship 

ions. The Spaniards’ first care was to erect a shelter 
of green boughs and suspend the large church bells. 
Their melodious peals proclaimed to the savages 
that a Christian worship, the first since 1602, was 
about to be held on these shores. Fray Junipero, 
robed in alb and stole, sank on his knees and chanted 
in full, deep, sonorous voice, the Veni, Creator 
Spiritus. He sprinkled holy water over the land, 
“ to put to rout all infernal foes.” The ceremonies 
were concluded with chanting mass to the accom¬ 
paniment of cannon crash and the roar of musketry. 
Don Gaspar Portola then stepped forward and 
loudly proclaimed that in the name of his most 
Catholic Majesty King Carlos III. he took posses¬ 
sion of the land and would defend the same against 
all who would gainsay it. It was the usual fashion 
of asserting the royal title to territories in a new 
country, and like similar titles in the New World, 
whether established under English, French, or 
Spanish government, ignored with perfect simplic¬ 
ity the territorial rights of the aborigines. 

Thus on June 3, 1770, Monterey and the sur¬ 
rounding country took their place as port and 
province of the great Spanish empire. When these 
duties to Castile and Christianity had been faith¬ 
fully performed, the officers and friars seated 
themselves in the shade of a spreading oak, which 
grew near by, and ate their simple meal; while the 
soldiers sought ampler shade higher on the shore, 
where, free from restraint, they boisterously re¬ 
galed themselves. During all this time the Indians 


152 


Jumpero Serra 

were absent, or what is more probable, present and 
effectually concealed, an American Indian seldom 
being seen when he chooses not to be. Curiosity, 
however, soon induced the savages to approach the 
invading strangers. 

Before many days had passed Fray Jumpero 
succeeded by gifts and protestations of friend¬ 
ship in coaxing them to return frequently. From 
the first they were inclined to regard the Spaniards 
with something of awe. They brought propitiatory 
offerings which they laid at the foot of the large 
wooden cross Portola had caused to be erected near 
the shore on his first exploring expedition. Padre 
Crespi tells in his journal that on his second return 
to Monterey he found the cross curiously 
decorated. 

It was surrounded with arrows stuck in the ground 
and sticks with many feathers, which the Gentiles had 
placed there; suspended from a pole beside the cross 
was a string of small fish, all fairly fresh, while pieces 
of meat were deposited at the foot of the cross and a 
pile of mussels.* 

Later when the Indians had learned to make 
themselves understood, they told how they had seen 
a resplendent cross shining through the pockets of 
every Spaniard when they first arrived, and that 
the large cross at night became wonderfully illu¬ 
minated and reached far up into the heavens, and 


Crespi’s Diary, in Palou’s Noticias. 



SERRA MEMORIAL CROSS AT MONTEREY 









































153 


The Coming of the Ship 

they were alarmed and brought peace offerings to 
the foreigner’s fetish.* These tales show that the 
savages possessed a fair share of imagination as 
well as a quick perception of what, in their talk, 
would please the good and credulous padres. Juni- 
pero wrote an account some years later of these 
happenings (the truth of which he did not for an 
instant doubt), as evidence that the reduction of 
the “ Gentiles ” in this spiritual conquest was 
accomplished by direct divine intercession. 

The business of selecting a suitable site for 
presidio and mission soon occupied the attention of 
the Spaniards. Within a gunshot from the shore, 
cabins were erected; one was dedicated as a church. 
The buildings were inclosed by a palisade wall. A 
soldier and a young sailor volunteered to carry the 
tidings of the successful occupation of Monterey 
to San Diego, and from thence to the Peninsula. 
Junipero did not fail to seize this opportunity of 
writing to Palou. As with most of his letters to his 
friend, we can but be struck with the extraordinary 
character of the writer. Whatever privations, hard¬ 
ships, or fatigue he has experienced he passes over 
in silence or barely touches upon. The news he asks 
for is of popes, saints, and calendars, and the sup¬ 
plies he begs for are candles for his church services 
and more missionaries for future missions. The 
letter follows: t 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 105, 106. 

t Ibid., pp. 101-3. 


154 


Jumpero Serra 

Beloved friend and my dear sir: On the 31st of 
May, by the favor of God, after a month and a half 
of a somewhat dangerous voyage, the vessel San Anto¬ 
nio, commanded by Captain D. Juan Perez, arrived and 
anchored in the beautiful port of Monterey, the same 
in reality and detail as that of the expedition of D. 
Sebastian Viscaino in 1603. I was much consoled when 
they told me that same night that eight days previously 
the land expedition had arrived, and with it Fr. Juan 
Crespi, and all in good health. On the day of Pente¬ 
cost, third of June, were united all officials of the land 
and sea expedition and all the people in the ship. The 
fathers erected an altar, suspended and rang the bells, 
sang the hymn Veni Creator, blessed the water, erected 
and blessed the large cross and also the royal standards. 
Then mass was sung, the first known to have been cele¬ 
brated here since [Sebastian Vizcaino’s expedition.] 
Afterwards we sang the Salutation of Our Lady before 
the image which occupied the altar. We concluded the 
ceremony by singing the Te Deum and after that the 
officials performed the act of taking possession of the 
land in the name of our master the king. (May God 
guard him.) Afterwards we ate together beneath some 
shade upon the beach. All the ceremonies were ac¬ 
companied by many reports of firearms on land and 
ship. To God alone all honor and glory. With respect 
to this port not having been found by those of the 
former expedition and their having announced that it 
did not exist I have nothing to say in regard to passing 
judgment upon them. Sufficient that it was finally 
found, and so were fulfilled though somewhat late, the 
wishes of His Excellency, the Inspector General, and 
all those who desire the spiritual conquest. As in May 
last was completed a year since I received my letter 
from Christian land, your reverence can imagine how 
thirsting we are for news. Above all I want to know, 


155 


The Coming of the Ship 

when the opportunity offers you, the name of our most 
saintly reigning pope, in order to include his name in 
the canon of the mass. And also if the canonization 
of the blessed Joseph Cupertine and Serafino de Asculi 
has been effected, and if there is any other saint or 
blessed one to put in the calendar and to pray for, since 
it appears that the printed calendars have already been 
despatched to us. If it is true that the Indians killed 
Padre Fray Joseph Soler in Sonora or Pimeria and how 
it happened, and if there are any other of the deceased 
of those known to us in order to commend them to God. 
And anything else which your reverence judges would 
by chance interest some poor hermits separated from 
human society. That which I would also like to know 
is concerning the mission from Spain and with regard 
to it. I charge you much and beg that two priests be 
designated for these missions, for with the four we 
could then distribute the six and place the mission of 
San Buenaventura in the canal of Santa Barbara, a 
landmark more advantageous than San Diego or Mon¬ 
terey or any other place yet discovered. Already there 
have been sent two shipments of supplies for said mis¬ 
sion, and though up to now the priests cannot be blamed 
for not having founded the establishment, I would not 
like to exonerate them when there is a guard to protect 
them. 

He tells Palou that he and Padre Crespi will 
divide their duties and that then the nearest priest 
to him will be eighty leagues away. 

Therefore I beg your reverence not to leave us long 
in this cruel solitude. The Padre Lasuen greatly desires 
to come here to these missions and so I recommend hiin 
to your reverence, when the ministers consider this sub¬ 
ject. We are very short of wax for the masses, as 


156 


Junipero Serra 

wc were in San Diego, nevertheless we are going to 
have tomorrow a fiesta and procession del Corpus, 
although it will be a poor one, to put to flight the evil 
spirits that may be in this land. If there be an occasion 
to send some [wax] it will be most opportune, as well 
as the incense previously requested. May your rever¬ 
ence not fail to write His Excellency and felicitate him 
on the discovery of the port and on whatever you may 
consider proper and do not fail to commend us to God; 
may he guard your reverence many years in His saintly 
love and grace. Mission of San Carlos of Monterey, 
June, day of San Antonio de Padua, 1770. I kiss the 
hand of your reverence. Your affectionate friend, com¬ 
panion and servant, Fray Junipero Serra.* f 

Three weeks after the young sailor and soldier, 
bearing Junipero’s letter and his blessing, had 
started on their long overland journey to Baja Cal¬ 
ifornia, Perez prepared for his return voyage to 
San Bias. 

Before the sailing of the ship, Junipero spent 
hours in the seclusion of his hut, writing long letters 
to the authorities in Mexico, the viceroy, the 
visitador general and the Guardian of San Fer¬ 
nando. 

He never lost sight of the fact that it was essential 
to the progress of the spiritual conquest to keep 
alive the zeal and interest of the home government 
in the new province. 

In his letters he gave an enthusiastic account of 
the country, its many natural advantages, the 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 101-103. 

t Palou received this letter six weeks after it was 
written. 


157 


The Coming of the Ship 

salubrity of its climate, the beauty of its scenery. 
He dwelt on the myriads of savages inhabiting the 
region between the frontier missions, San Fernando 
Velicata, and the port of San Francisco, the 
numerous and favorable sites for missions and 
pueblos, the need of more missionaries to assist in 
spreading the faith. He begged that the various 
requisites for founding missions, such as church 
utensils and implements of agriculture, be sent to 
him, and expressed his desire of forming a cordon 
of missions from Velicata to San Francisco which 
would not only facilitate communications with the 
old establishments, and thereby with Mexico, but 
bring Christianity and civilization to thousands of 
benighted beings. 

Thus would Spanish civilization, Spanish rule, 
Spanish policy and commerce be permanently 
established in the new province. It was a tempting 
bait, this that Fray Junipero knew how to dangle 
before the eyes of the Spanish officials, but his 
motive was all sincerity, without hypocrisy or per¬ 
sonal ambition. Spain could reap the material 
benefits of his work, he desired only to fasten the 
“ yoke of the faith ” on the children of this beauti¬ 
ful wilderness. 

He entrusted his letters to Perez, who promised 
to forward them to Mexico as soon as his ship 
arrived in the harbor of San Bias. 

On the ninth of July the San Antonio spread 
her white sails, dipped her colors to the little band 
of Spaniards she was leaving in the wilderness, and 





158 


Jumpero Serra 

flew southward before a fair wind for San Bias. 
She carried with her Don Gasper de Portola, and 
the engineer, Miguel Constanzo, whose entire duty 
while in California appears to have been surveying 
a site for the Monterey presidio. Portola, in accord¬ 
ance with his original instructions, turned his com¬ 
mand over to the young Catalan officer, Lieutenant 
Pedro Fages, who now was left military com¬ 
mander, not only of the new presidio but of Cali¬ 
fornia, with an army numbering something short of 
fifty men. From this time the good-natured Portola 
disappears entirely from California annals. He 
had led in the occupation of Alta California, and 
closed his governorship in March, 1770. 

When Junipero’s letters, bearing the tidings of 
the successful occupation of Monterey, finally 
reached Mexico, the greatest rejoicing was mani¬ 
fested. The cathedral bells were rung. From the 
convent and belfries of every church in the capital, 
gay chimes pealed forth. A solemn mass was held, 
which was attended by the visitador general, the 
viceroy, and all the Government officials. After¬ 
wards a great reception was held in the viceregal 
palace during which Galvez and de Croix, magnifi¬ 
cently attired, received, in the name of his Majesty 
Carlos III., the people’s congratulations. Circulars 
were printed and distributed, giving an account of 
the occupation of Monterey, which were eagerly 
read by the populace. Liberal provisions were 
made for establishing five missions in the beautiful 
new California. 


The Coming of the Ship 


159 


Galvez provided a government fund of one 
thousand dollars for each mission and offered four 
hundred dollars to the missionaries who would join 
those already in the new province. The Guardian 
of San Fernando college appointed ten additional 
friars to serve under Fray Junipero. Thus did the 
Spaniards proudly rejoice over the acquisition of a 
territory which in little more than half a century 
they were destined to lose forever. 


CHAPTER X 


MISSION-FOUNDING WORK 

N EARLY a year had passed since Portola 
sailed on the San Antonio. Since that time 
no ship had visited the little Spanish colony; it 
remained in complete isolation from the outside 
world. At Monterey the soldiers found, for a time, 
occupation in building the presidio, which on com¬ 
pletion was little more than a collection of rudely 
constructed huts within a palisade inclosure, forti¬ 
fied by four bronze cannons mounted in the ravelins 
of the palisades. The fort was situated on the brow 
of a hill within gunshot of the beach. At one 
end of the square inclosure was the church, made 
of adobe, with flat, mud roof. Adjoining the 
church was a room for the padres when they came 
over from their mission to say mass in the fort. 

At the other end of the square, facing the church, 
stood the commanding officer’s house, a wretched 
little adobe structure, having but two rooms, one of 
which served for a kitchen, the other for storage 
and bedchamber. The first rulers of Alta Cali¬ 
fornia were not, it appears, luxuriously housed. A 
few small huts formed the barracks of the soldiers; 
there was also an adobe jail, and a storeroom for 
160 




Mission-Founding Work 161 

ammunition and general supplies, all with roofs of 
sun-dried mud. Besides these buildings were 
quarters for the muleteers and servants.* 

Not far from the presidio, a second collection of 
primitive buildings represented the mission, San 
Carlos. Here the great bells were hung, and every 
morning for matins and every evening for vespers, 
they sent out over the blue, billowy sea, and far into 
the dark forests, a sweet volume of sound; and the 
fleet-footed savage stood still to listen agape with 
wonderment. 9 

Whenever Fray Junipero could tear himself 
away from his unwearying efforts to warm the 
torpid soul of the native into something like sentient 
life, he explored the surrounding country. The 
reason of these explorations soon became apparent. 
He announced his intention of removing the 
mission five miles from the presidio to a green and 
fertile valley, where the Carmel River empties into 
the beautiful bay of the same name. To the secular 
authorities the president gave as his reason for 
making this change, the greater natural advantages 
the new site afforded. The water supply was more 
abundant, he said, and the soil more fertile than at 
Monterey. The principal motive actuating Juni¬ 
pero can, however, be sought elsewhere. Already 
he was experiencing the disadvantages close prox¬ 
imity to the presidio caused the mission. The young 
Catalan commandant, Lieutenant Pedro Fages 


Palou’s Noticias, II. p. 243. 


162 


Jumpero Serra 

appears to have exercised but an indifferent 
influence over his soldiers. In everything pertain¬ 
ing to minor military discipline he was not only 
never negligent but frequently harsh and severe; 
yet in respect to matters of greater import his com¬ 
mand seems to have been altogether deficient in 
prudence and calculating foresight. After Portola’s 
departure the conduct of his soldiers towards the 
natives was of a nature destructive of every senti¬ 
ment of friendship and confidence the friars were 
striving to establish. These picturesque soldiers, 
in loose leather trousers and quilted leather jackets, 
were a rough, careless set, overbold, prompt to 
fight, dissolute in idleness, but not unmanageable. 
An officer who could gain their confidence had not 
a difficult task in controlling them. But the com¬ 
mand of Fages, while despotic, failed to correct 
abuses indulged in by men who, weary of the 
wilderness, longed to return to the land of corn and 
wine and oil and pretty women. Their duties were 
neither arduous or many. To take their turn at 
guard mounting, to keep their weapons cleaned and 
burnished — each soldier was equipped with a 
broadsword, a lance, a firelock and pistols — to 
assist the peons in the care of the live stock, or in 
cutting wood, constituted the greater part of their 
labors after the huts and barracks of the presidio 
were completed. Each soldier also kept one of his 
horses constantly saddled, ready to mount at any 
hour during the day or night in the event of an 
alarm being sounded. 




Mission-Founding Work 163 

A lively skirmish with the Indians would doubt¬ 
less have appealed to him as breaking the monotony 
of his days. But the savages remained quiet and 
gave no provocation for warfare, however mild. 

The principal tribes inhabiting the region around 
Monterey were the Runsiens, the Escelens, the 
Achastliens, and the Mutsunes. They were not 
more prepossessing in appearance than their 
brothers farther south, while their filth and laziness 
were even greater. They not infrequently were 
known to smear themselves with thick coatings of 
mud, to protect their bodies from the cold, rather 
than take the trouble to spear the sea otter or hunt 
the deer and rabbit to obtain the skins which con¬ 
stituted their clothing in the winter months. When 
they followed the chase, their methods would not 
commend themselves to the sportsmen. Disguised 
with the head and horns of a stag, the Indian hunter 
would creep on all fours through the underbrush or 
long waving grass, and approach close to a herd of 
deer; then, selecting the largest, fattest buck among 
them, let fly his arrow. The ruse invariably suc¬ 
ceeded and the unsuspecting animal was killed 
before it knew an enemy was near.* 

Like the Baja Californians, these Indians took 
delight in acting; they represented with not a little 
skill and humor scenes from their domestic life, or 
from the battle field and chase. Their musical 
instruments consisted of skin drums, a rattle made 


La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 181. 




164 


Jumpero Serra 

of tortoise shell filled with pebbles, and a primitive 
kind of pipe having two or three reeds, upon which 
a few notes could be sounded. These instruments, 
together with loud chanting and clapping of hands 
formed the discordant music to which they danced. 
The women seldom were permitted to take part in 
these dances, such festivities being considered the 
exclusive prerogative of their male relatives. They 
held no slaves in any form whatever and possessed 
no intoxicating liquor. They were brave in battle, 
meeting their fate with the same stoicism that 
characterizes the North American Indian every¬ 
where. Their principal faults were inordinate 
slothfulness, fickleness, and filthiness. It was out of 
such unpromising material as this that Fray Juni- 
pero, amid immense difficulties, formed an indus¬ 
trious, docile people who became good farmers, 
millers, carpenters, and spinners, who supported 
themselves and their missions, and who under the 
guidance of their padres helped to convert Cali¬ 
fornia from a wilderness to a prosperous, fertile 
province. 

The site that Jumpero selected for his mission 
was, as I have said, on the banks of the Carmel 
River, in the shadow of the Santa Lucia Mountains 
and near the shores of the beautiful Carmel Bay. 
The meaning of the word “ Carmel ” in Hebrew is 
a “ park or garden.” It is a rather interesting 
speculation whether the naming of this garden spot 
on the shores of the Pacific, by Sebastian Vizcaino 
in 1603, was due primarily to its own beauty or to 



CARMEL MISSION (SAN CARLOS) NEAR MONTEREY 
































Mission-Founding Work 165 

the startling resemblance it has to the better known, 
more ancient, but not more beautiful Carmel in 
the Holy Land. Travelers who have visited the 
two Carmels — the one on the blue shores of the 
Mediterranean, the other on the blue shores of the 
Pacific, have been impressed with the resemblance 
they bear each other. There are the same forests of 
live oaks, carpeted with brown wild grasses (the 
native wilderness as it is written of in the Bible), 
and the same perfect half-moon bays, with their 
beautiful expanse of deep blue waters between the 
horns, and connecting these horns the same glisten¬ 
ing stretch of sand, although in the California 
Carmel the dazzling whiteness of the sand remains 
distinctive of its own shores. The formation of the 
lands, the marine pictures, are prototypes of one 
another. Nor does the resemblance cease here, for 
each Carmel owes its place in history to the 
presence of a little band of pious men, who worked 
and prayed for a common cause, the saving of 
human souls. 

With some peons and a few soldiers, who were 
supposed to assist in the work but contented them¬ 
selves with the arduous task of superintending the 
labors of the peons, Junipero began the cutting 
down of trees for the building of the new San Carlos 
mission on Carmel Bay. In the meantime the ten 
additional friars sent from San Fernando College 
in Mexico arrived at Monterey on the San Antonio 
in May, 1771. Among their number was the ill 
fated Fray Luis Jayme. The missionaries brought 


166 


Junipero Serra 

with them an assortment of bells, sacred vessels, and 
images together with agricultural and house im¬ 
plements, sufficient for five new missions. 

Junipero was fairly beside himself with joy. He 
appointed two missionaries to San Diego to replace 
the friars who long since had desired permission to 
retire because of ill health. He named four other 
friars as founders of the missions San Gabriel and 
San Buenaventura. Then after making the neces¬ 
sary arrangements for their departure, he set off 
with two missionaries and an escort of soldiers to 
establish San Antonio de Padua. Twenty-five 
leagues from Monterey he came upon a little stream 
which watered a lovely oak-studded valley inclosed 
by rugged mountains. The beauty of this wild and 
lonely place charmed him. He decided to found 
the mission here. The bells were accordingly un¬ 
packed and suspended from the branch of a great 
oak. Junipero seized the ropes and shouted with a 
kind of delirious rapture, “ Hear, Gentiles, come, 
come, to the Holy Church, come, come, to receive 
the faith of Jesus Christ.’’ 

One of the friars, Fray Miguel Pieras, remon¬ 
strated with him. “ Why do you tire yourself in 
this way? ” he demanded. “ There are no Indians 
in sight; it is a waste of time to ring the bells.” 

“ I would like these bells to be heard by all the 
world,” exclaimed Junipero, “ or at least by all the 
Gentiles who live in the mountains.” * 


* Palou, Vida, p. 122. 


Mission-Founding Work 167 

The usual cross was erected and blessed. A 
shelter of branches was soon made, which did duty 
for a church and Junipero celebrated mass. A 
solitary Indian appeared, attracted by the ringing 
of the bells. He remained silently watching the 
strangers, until the religious ceremonies were over, 
then he as silently departed. Junipero held the 
Indian’s presence at this first mass to be an auspic¬ 
ious omen, and as heralding the conversion of many 
heathen souls in the new mission. Later the man 
returned accompanied by several of his compan¬ 
ions. The natives of the region were milder, more 
friendly in character than those around San Diego 
and Monterey. They brought gifts of acorns and 
seeds of various varieties. In exchange they were 
given colored glass beads which pleased them 
vastly, and quantities of maize and other articles 
of food, for which they manifested no very great 
liking. They assisted in building the rude struc¬ 
tures which were to shelter the Spaniards. They 
even helped with much good nature in erecting the 
strong palisade which was to serve as a defense 
against their own intrusion in case of necessity. 
They evinced their perfect confidence in the 
strangers by bringing for storage all the acorns and 
seeds they had garnered for their winter food. Thus 
auspiciously was founded the mission of San An¬ 
tonio de Padua July 14, 1771. In connection with 
this mission, the padres tell a story related by an 
old Indian woman, whose ancient aspect seemed 
to indicate that she was one hundred years old. She 


168 


Jumpero Serra 

came to the mission and begged the fathers to 
baptize her. The missionaries were equally pleased 
and surprised at a request so unusual. They in¬ 
quired why she desired to become a Christian. She 
replied that in her father’s youth two padres,* 
gowned as they were, suddenly appeared among 
her people and had taught them the same Christian 
faith. The friars discovered that this tradition 
existed among all the savages in that vicinity. As 
they were unable to account for the origin of that 
belief, they discredited the tale entirely. 

Fifteen days after the founding of San Antonio, 
Fray Junipero, leaving the friars with a guard of 
six soldiers and a corporal, returned to Monterey. 
Scarcely had the energetic president arrived, before 
he hastened over the hills to Carmel, to inspect the 
progress made in the building of his own mission. 
On the tranquil shores of the beautiful bay the 
soldiers and peons had not wearied themselves with 
undue exertion. Junipero found that if he would 
hasten the completion of San Carlos, he must per¬ 
force superintend the work himself. 

In a hut which he shared with the foreman, and 

* Palou affirms his belief that the unknown mission¬ 
aries were two Franciscans, not of Spanish birth, who 
were referred to in a certain letter dated 1630, which 
he had chanced to read. In this letter the two Francis¬ 
cans were spoken of as having made their way to these 
tribes, and after causing many conversions having been 
finally martyred by the savages. 

Palou, Vida, pp. 124, 125. 


Mission-Founding Work 169 

not infrequently with the peons when the winds 
blew cold, Junipero took up his abode. In front of 
the hut a large cross was erected, and here every 
morning at daybreak he sang the Alabada after 
which mass was celebrated, the soldiers and peons 
attending. These religious duties performed, Juni¬ 
pero directed each man to his special task for the 
day. There were no dilatory measures now. Under 
the stimulus of the friar’s encouraging words, the 
example of his own energy and enthusiasm, the 
men worked with a good will. 

The Indians came to watch the progress of the 
buildings, which excited their liveliest curiosity. 
Junipero availed himself of these visits to bestow 
small gifts upon them. The savages were thus 
induced to return with greater frequency and in 
larger numbers. He taught them to make the sign 
of the cross and to greet him with the words “ Love 
God,” a greeting full of delicate charm and tender¬ 
ness when it fell from the friar’s lips, yet which in 
the mouths of the uncomprehending savages had 
in it something of pathos. They quickly learned to 
give this salutation to every Spaniard they saw, and 
even to the neophytes, when they chanced to meet 
them on the trail from Monterey to Carmel, for 
the latter frequently begged permission to visit the 
“ old Padre ” as they called Fray Junipero. 

As soon as the chapel and a sufficient number of 
dwellings were completed Junipero sent to Mon¬ 
terey for Padre Crespi, whom he had appointed 
his associate in the San Carlos mission. 


170 


Junipero Serra 

Padre Crespi, or Fray Juan, as he was called, 
brought with him his small flock of neophytes. 
This formal transfer took place in the month of 
December. 

The original buildings of San Carlos mission 
consisted of chapel, dwelling, and barracks. The 
main structure was seventy feet long and forty-five 
feet in width and was a framework of interwoven 
twigs, plastered with mud. The roof, also of mud, 
supported by horizontal timbers, proved a very 
inadequate protection against the driving winter 
rains. The house was divided into partitions, form¬ 
ing six apartments. The best room received a 
whitewash of lime; it was used for a chapel. Here 
Junipero erected the altar, and placed the images 
and pictures, together with the sacred vessels which 
were apportioned to San Carlos mission. Among 
these sacred vessels were a handsomely carved 
silver crucifix and candlesticks, which are still 
carefully preserved in the church of Monterey 
where in later years, following the secularization 
of the missions, they were taken for safe-keeping. 
A second partition served for the friar’s cell, which 
was as bare as that of an anchorite. His couch con¬ 
sisted of a few rough boards laid upon the floor; 
pillow he had none; a hide served him for blanket. 
The remaining rooms were used as storage places 
for maize, flour, chocolate, dried figs, raisins, etc., 
as well as for such agricultural implements as the 
mission possessed, and last though by no means 
least in the estimation of the missionaries, for the 


t 



SAN GABRIEL MISSION 



Copyright, Detroit Photocrom Co. 

SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA MISSION 

















































































































































Mission-Founding Work 171 

gifts they had brought for the Indians. The kitchen 
was a separate structure, roofed with grass. In the 
same rectangular space with these buildings were 
the barracks for the guard and the corral for the 
small number of mission live stock. A stockade 
with projecting ramparts at the corners inclosed the 
mission. The great gates were carefully locked at 
night, a precautionary measure taken by the guards 
which Junipero knew to be quite superfluous, as the 
palisades, owing to the scarcity of nails, were not 
secured at the top and could be easily forced at any 
point. A little patch of ground was converted with 
patience and care into a vegetable garden. Later 
the friars raised under the semitropical California 
sun the vine, the almond, the peach, and in the more 
southern missions, the orange, lemon and olive, 
hitherto unknown in the country. 

In the course of a few years these first rude 
structures were replaced by others, made of adobe 
bricks and having roofs of burnt tiles. The later 
missions were striking in their artistic beauty and 
simplicity. These Spanish friars produced with 
the rawest, most unpromising materials buildings 
which to this day arrest the eye of the traveler and 
fill him with wonder and admiration. The student 
of architecture can find in the United States, today, 
nothing more deserving of interest, nothing more 
original in conception, more beautiful in design, 
than the ruined remains of the old California 
missions. It may have been an advantage to the 
Franciscans that their workmen, the untutored 


172 


Jumpero Serra 

Indians, possessed no preconceived architectural 
ideas and obeyed implicitly the directions of the 
friars, who in turn, having no model to copy from, 
drew their inspiration direct from nature. Many of 
the missionaries developed a remarkable talent in 
designing and building. With them rests the honor 
of having created an original style of architecture, 
so harmoniously adapted to the blue skies, lofty 
mountains, and fertile plains of California, that 
“ mission architecture ” has become a recognized 
and justly favorite type of building on the Pacific 
slope. 

Jumpero and Crespi were now installed in their 
mission. Their days were passed in teaching the 
natives, in expounding the mysteries of the Faith to 
the extent of their limited knowledge of the lan¬ 
guage, and the doubtful assistance of a Baja Cali¬ 
fornia neophyte, who had picked up a smattering 
of the Escelen dialect. 

Part of the day was devoted to tilling the soil; 
the friars, with gowns tucked up and spade in hand, 
gave practical lessons to their savage pupils in the 
art of agriculture. In this laborious task they were 
occasionally assisted by some good-natured soldier 
of the guard, who possessed, perhaps, a small 
knowledge of farming. In the evenings, behind 
barred doors, the weary friars found leisure to dis¬ 
cuss the prospects of the mission and to make plans 
for the future. Then they worked together in 
analyzing and endeavoring to master the strange 
Indian tongues, a woefully difficult task for poor 



Mission-Founding Work 173 

Junipero. Each friar sought to aid the other with 
suggestions and repetitions of new words acquired 
during the day. 

It is probable at this time, also, that Junipero 
painstakingly taught himself to sew, in order that 
he might later instruct the women in this useful 
accomplishment.* He cut out their garments and 
from bright colored cotton cloths made up petti¬ 
coats and little shirts for the children f who 
received them with shrill squeals of delight. 

So day after day, and far into the night, he toiled 
unceasingly, always cheered with the hope of 
obtaining a plentiful “ harvest of souls.” 

He was not, however, occupied exclusively in 
promoting the welfare of his own mission. He 
watched solicitously over the interests of the other 
establishments and wrote minute instructions to the 
friars, advising and encouraging them in their 
work. 

Difficulties and disagreements had early mani¬ 
fested themselves between Fages and the mission¬ 
aries. The young officer shared in the spirit of the 
times and was impatient of anything resembling 
ecclesiastical control or influence. This was the 
potent cause to which can be contributed the petty 
conflicts between the missionaries and the military 
at this period in Alta California. Spain had set¬ 
tled beyond dispute the question of missionary 

* Palou, Vida, p. 304. 

t Ibid, p. 304. 





174 


Jumpero Serra 

supremacy in all her provinces; the status of the 
friars was rigidly outlined and their powers curbed. 
Their missions no longer resembled little kingdoms 
ruled over by the presiding padre, but were subject 
to certain well defined restrictions. 

Fages appears to have considered it expedient to 
constantly remind the friars of his supremacy in 
California, by adopting a system of trivial inter¬ 
ference in their work and by subjecting them to 
annoyances more humiliating to them than credit¬ 
able to himself. Among his privileges he included 
that of delaying their letters — brought by soldier- 
couriers from Baja California, and even, on occa¬ 
sions, of opening them. His harsh treatment of the 
converts did no little to increase the friction. He 
claimed the right of punishing mission neophytes, 
a right Junipero persistently denied, except in cases 
of serious transgression of the law. He retained 
mission property at the presidio, thereby prevent¬ 
ing the distribution of small gifts to the Indians, 
and declined to turn over the mules and cows appor¬ 
tioned to the mission. When a padre requested the 
removal of a soldier from the mission guard because 
of bad conduct, Fages refused. On the other hand, 
if a man evinced a willingness to assist the mission¬ 
aries by teaching their charges the manual arts, he 
was promptly transferred to the presidio, the com¬ 
mandant declaring that such employment was 
detrimental to military authority. 

That he was not a man of great perspicacity, in¬ 
telligence, or dignity is manifest from the puerility 


Mission-Founding Work 175 

of these proceedings. The soldiers disliked him as 
cordially as they had liked Portola and Rivera. 
The miserable fare and the harsh treatment which 
they received under his command caused frequent 
desertions. These desertions finally assumed alarm¬ 
ing proportions. On one occasion nine men fled in 
a bunch, and on another, five men, with their 
corporal, took to the wilderness. Fages was at his 
wit’s end to know how to get them back again. With 
an army numbering less than fifty, he could ill 
afford to lose so many men. When he pursued the 
deserters, determined to employ force if necessary 
in capturing them, he found them securely barri¬ 
caded and ready to kill or be killed rather than 
surrender, and he was forced to beat an ignominious 
retreat. On these occasions Fages would seek the 
friars and beg them to come to his assistance by 
using their influence with the fugitives in persuad¬ 
ing them to return, at the same time promising a 
full pardon to every man. The combination of 
priest and pardon generally proved effectual; the 
soldiers came back and resumed the routine of their 
military life. 

But lasting harmony was not established be¬ 
tween the commandant and his little army. Dis¬ 
affection grew; grumbling and discontent became 
general, and we are often treated to the curious 
spectacle of an officer in the royal army calling on 
the clergy to assist him in managing his rebellious 
men. In this manner more than two years passed 
since the occupation of Alta California. The 


176 


Jumpero Serra 

Indians in the vicinity of San Carlos and Monterey 
remained tranquil, but those near the southern 
establishments gave continual cause for uneasiness. 
Junipero had founded four missions and had 
arranged for the founding of the fifth, which he 
intended should be San Buenventura, in the beauti¬ 
ful Santa Barbara region, when startling and sin¬ 
ister tidings reached him from San Gabriel. The 
savages there had at first been disposed to friendli¬ 
ness, and regarded the Spaniards as gods, because 
they saw them strike fire from a flint. 

This attitude of deference was however soon 
changed to one of supreme contempt. They recog¬ 
nized the strangers as human beings and described 
them as having “ a nasty white color with ugly 
blue eyes.” Their confidence had been alienated 
by gross outrages perpetuated upon them by the 
soldiers and particularly upon the wife of one of 
their chiefs.* The Indians, infuriated, sought to 
avenge the crime by attacking the soldiers who were 
guarding the mission live stock. But the soldiers 
were not caught unawares and met the savage horde 
with such a deadly fire from their muskets, that, ter¬ 
rified, the Indians turned and fled. Among the 
fallen was their chieftain. The fate he met with 
after incurring death to avenge the wrong done to 
his wife, showed the uncurbed lawlessness of the 
soldiers. They decapitated the slain savage and in 
derision stuck his head on a pole over the gates. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 131. 


Mission-Founding Work 177 

The Indians, unable to tolerate the spectacle of such 
an indignity, and crushed with shame, suspended 
their hostilities to beg for the mutilated head of 
their leader. For a time quiet prevailed. But the 
excesses of the soldiers soon broke out again. Indif¬ 
ferent to the commands of their worthless corporal, 
they refused to work and amused themselves by 
pursuing the native women, lassoing them when in 
terror they fled to their rancherias, and killing the 
men who attempted to defend them. 

It is but justice to the Spaniards in this connec¬ 
tion to say that had Portola remained in California, 
such gross maltreatment of natives would not have 
occurred, or had they occurred, the criminals would 
have met with prompt and rigorous punishment. 
The policy of the Spanish government throughout 
the entire California conquest was an eminently 
humane one. The laws regulating the new province 
were intended for the protection of the Indians as 
well as for the welfare and safety of the Spaniards. 
In Galvez’s instructions to those commanding the 
great enterprise we read that “ the strictest disci¬ 
pline is to be kept, every precaution taken for safety 
and any outrages on the Indians to be severely 
punished.” A commentary on Fages’ inefficiency is 
his manner of dealing with the deplorable condi¬ 
tions existing at San Gabriel. Instead of promptly 
replacing the worthless corporal * by some one 

* This soldier was not replaced until late in the fol¬ 
lowing year. 




178 Junipero Serra 

competent to enforce obedience to his orders, and 
severely punishing the criminals, Fages contented 
himself with strongly increasing the San Gabriel 
guard and issuing orders that no Indians should be 
permitted to enter the mission. The friars were 
amazed and indignant. If they could not have 
intercourse with the savages, they asked, how were 
they to conciliate and convert them, and why were 
the missionaries in the country? Fages however 
was determined to pursue his own policy. He also 
decided to postpone the founding of San Buenaven¬ 
tura in the Santa Barbara channel region. The two 
friars who were to administer this mission were 
left at San Gabriel. 

It was through Fages himself that Junipero 
heard of these facts. The commandant, in conclud¬ 
ing the account of the disturbances, added in the 
haughty, half-insolent tone he adopted toward the 
friar, that for the present no more missions would 
be founded. 

These conditions caused Junipero the greatest 
anxiety. He knew that his persuasiveness and elo¬ 
quence would avail him nothing in altering the 
decision of the young officer. He realized that had 
punishment, swift and sharp, been meted to the per¬ 
petrators of the hideous crimes, much would have 
been accomplished towards mitigating the hatred 
of the savages for the Spaniards and towards the 
re-establishment of tranquility. The outlook now 
was indeed gloomy and disheartening. A terrific 
blow had been struck against the temporal and 




Mission-Founding Work 179 

spiritual conquest, and struck by the conquerors 
themselves. 

To Fray Junipero this knowledge was bitter 
beyond any other bitterness. The necessity of delay 
in founding San Buenventura and other missions, 
was not apparent to him, nor indeed was such a 
delay imperative. There can however be little 
doubt that Fages was sincere in the motives which 
actuated him in postponing the establishment of 
other missions. He did not lack courage, but capac¬ 
ity. He was incompetent to cope with the existing 
dangers and over cautious in encountering them. 
Junipero, on the contrary, was, it may be, over¬ 
confident. It is a fault which is perhaps more 
readily condoned by the world than its antithesis. 
He possessed the daring of the adventurer, the stead¬ 
fastness to pursue his ends of the leader, the flexi¬ 
bility to vary his means of the priest. And he had 
patience. 

The interview between commandant and presi¬ 
dent came to an end, accordingly, with apparent ac¬ 
quiescence on the part of the one to the other’s policy 
of unintelligent inactivity. But before long Juni¬ 
pero sought and found an occasion of diplomatic¬ 
ally suggesting to Fages the advisibility of further¬ 
ing the conquest, by explorations of the northern 
country and the port of San Francisco, where the 
mission to St. Francis was to be established. Fages 
had received orders from the viceroy to make this 
exploration; this suggestion came, therefore, as a 
timely reminder to obey his instructions. Accord- 


180 


Jumpero Serra 

ingly, after the winter rains had ceased, he set out 
from Monterey with twelve soldiers, a muleteer, 
and an Indian interpreter. Junipero directed his 
old friend Crespi to accompany the expedition in 
his capacity of priest and chronicler. This was in 
March, 1772. 

The expedition, as far as the exploration of the 
port of San Francisco was concerned, proved a 
failure. During the absence of Fages on this north¬ 
ern journey, a new and formidable danger men¬ 
aced the missions of San Diego and San Gabriel. 
Intelligence was transmitted from the south to 
Junipero, announcing great dearth of provisions 
and the near prospect of a famine. The yearly 
supply ships, long overdue, had not arrived. So 
great was the necessity at San Diego, where the 
neophytes had become numerous, the friars feared 
the mission would have to be abandoned unless 
succor reached them soon. Padre Dumetz had gone 
to Baja California, to procure supplies, and Padre 
Jayme was alone in the mission. Couriers were 
promptly dispatched after the commandant, who 
hastened his return to Monterey. Here he col¬ 
lected all the provisions that could be spared, 
ordered the mule train loaded, and under a strong 
guard sent it south to relieve the distressed mis¬ 
sions and presidio . Sturdy Padre Crespi accom¬ 
panied the caravan, in order to remain at San Diego 
until Dumetz returned from Baja California. 

As time passed and the transport did not arrive, 
food became scarce at Monterey, at San Carlos and 


Mission-Founding Work 181 

San Antonio. A scant supply of milk from the 
mission cows, a few vegetables grown in the little 
garden patches, were all the Spaniards and the 
neophytes had to subsist upon. At Junipero’s 
request the Indians flocked into the mountains to 
search in their old haunts for edible seeds for them¬ 
selves and the half-starved strangers in their land. 
The uncertainty of this meager fare added to the 
gloom of the situation. Finally Fages found a rem¬ 
edy so obvious, one can but wonder why it was not 
thought of and put into execution before. He 
organized a hunting expedition which included 
himself and thirteen picked men. Yet their game 
was to be not deer, antelope, or mountain sheep, 
which abounded in the country, but the fierce bears 
inhabiting a region called by the Spaniards Ganado 
de los Osos, because these animals were to be found 
there in great numbers traveling together in groups 
of fourteen or sixteen. Fages spent three months in 
this exciting sport. It is difficult to understand 
why the coarse, unpalatable meat of the bear should 
have been selected to provide nourishment for the 
famished settlements, when the more delicate veni¬ 
son and sweet-flavored mutton could have been pro¬ 
cured with greater facility. Fages’ famous hunting 
expedition served however a purpose almost equal 
in importance to the one for which it was organ¬ 
ized. By ridding the country of these ferocious 
animals, long a terror to the Indians, he gained for 
the Spaniards the gratitude and good will of the 
natives. 


182 


Junipero Serra 

Finally the tardy transports arrived in the har¬ 
bor of San Diego, and the pressing necessities of 
the southern missions were relieved. But now 
another difficulty confronted Junipero. A courier 
arrived with letters from the captains of the two 
vessels, stating their inability to reach Monterey 
because of contrary winds. One of the transports 
had been within two leagues of the St. Carlos mis¬ 
sion and, unable to make port, had returned to San 
Diego! 

The second transport, after straying around the 
Santa Barbara channel, had made no further 
attempt to sail up the coast to Monterey. All the 
supplies were therefore in San Diego, while the 
northern establishments were left destitute. In 
writing to Palou of these annoying troubles, Juni¬ 
pero says: 

The consolation is that the two missions of San Diego 
and San Gabriel are now relieved of anxiety. This one 
(San Carlos) and San Antonio and the presidio are 
not in danger of being abandoned, but have the cer¬ 
tainty of enduring more days of hardship. The pack 
mules for carrying supplies to us overland are few and 
in poor condition. The people are chiefly maintained 
by the Indians, and they live, God knows how. The 
milk of the cows and the vegetables of the gardens 
have been two great sources of subsistence for these 
establishments; both begin how-ever now to get scarce, 
but it is not for this I feel troubled, it is because we 
have not been able to go on with other missions. * * * 

All of the missionaries feel the vexatious troubles 
and obstacles which we have encountered, but no one 


Mission-Founding Work 183 

thinks of leaving his mission or desires to do so. How¬ 
ever it is consoling to think that troubles or no troubles, 
there are various souls for heaven from Monterey, San 
Antonio and San Diego, from San Gabriel there are 
none as yet. There are many Indians who praise God, 
and whose holy name is in their mouths more fre¬ 
quently than in those of many old Christians. Yet 
some think that from mild lambs as they are at present 
they will return some day to be lions and tigers. This 
may be so, if God permits; but we have three years 
experience with those of Monterey, and with those of 
San Antonio two years, and they appear better every 
day.* * * If all are not already Christians, it is in 

my opinion only owing to our want of understanding 
the language. This is a trouble not new to me, and I 
have always imagined that my sins have not permitted 
me to possess the faculty of learning strange tongues, 
which is a great misfortune in a country like this, where 
there is no interpreter or teacher of languages to be had, 
until some of the natives learn Spanish, which requires 
a long time. At San Diego they have already overcome 
this difficulty. They now baptize adults and celebrate 
marriages, and we are here approximating the same 
point. We have begun to explain to the youths in Cas¬ 
tilian, and if they could give us a little assistance in 
another way we should in a short time care little about 
the arrival of the vessels as far as respects provisions. 
But as affairs are at present, the missions cannot much 
advance upon the whole. How-ever I confide in God 
who will remedy all. 

He begs Palou to send missionaries to replace 
the two friars of San Gabriel, who because of ill 
health, had asked permission to leave California 
and adds with a good-natured warning: 


184 


Jumpero Serra 

Let those who come here, come well provided with 
patience and charity and let them pass on in good 
humor for they may become rich. I mean in troubles; 
but where will the laboring ox go, where he must not 
draw the plough? And if he do not draw the plow 
how can there be a harvest? * 

The frugal fare that those in the presidio and 
missions were forced to subsist on caused every day 
greater suffering and discontent. This determined 
Junipero to go south himself to personally inter¬ 
view the cautious sea captains and urge upon them 
the necessity of making another attempt to reach 
Monterey. 


* Palou, Vida, pp. 136-139. 



CHAPTER XI 


ANXIOUS DAYS 

I T WAS a hot August day when Jumpero set out 
on foot from his mission, San Carlos, to travel 
to San Diego. With him were Fages, an escort of 
soldiers, and Padre Cavalier, the last named going 
in the capacity of minister to the fifth mission, San 
Luis Obispo, to the establishment of which Fages 
had now consented. It was the first time Jumpero 
had taken the overland journey. He was enrap¬ 
tured with everything he saw, the groves of gigan¬ 
tic cypresses, the long forest stretches of noble live 
oaks, intermingled with fragrant firs and cedars, 
the brilliancy of innumerable wild flowers, the 
shining valleys, the high, shadowy hills, and all 
that picturesque scenery which nature has given 
to the land of California. 

The first days of their journey they followed the 
coast, then struck off into the mountains, till they 
came within sight of the famous Canado de los 
Osos. Overlooking a lovely valley and half a 
league from the canado, Junipero selected the site 
for the new mission. It was on a pleasant hill, near 
a crystal stream, and three leagues from the sea. 
The business of founding a mission was usually 

185 


186 


Junipero Serra 

a sufficiently simple one. It was enough that a 
padre should consecrate some sort of a shelter for 
a church, that he should be furnished with two or 
three sacred vessels and a small stock of provisions 
for himself and the soldiers who remained with 
him. Spiritual work was then at once begun. He 
and his guard made their home in the meanwhile, 
in the greenwood, sleeping under starry skies or 
stormy until their first rude houses were erected. 

In this manner was founded, September i, 1772, 
San Luis Obispo. So inadequate was the allow¬ 
ance of food which could be spared Padre Cavalier, 
it was necessary to leave an extra supply of coarse 
brown sugar with which he could purchase seeds 
from the Indians, who, retaining a grateful remem¬ 
brance of Fages’ bear-hunting expedition, were 
disposed to friendliness. The following day Juni- 
pero and Fages continued their march southward, 
promising to forward fresh supplies to the mission 
when they reached San Diego. Cavalier, says 
Junipero, was “ full of hope and confidence,” 
which he also shared with him, though he adds: 

Let us leave time to tell the story of the progress 
which I hope Christianity will make among the Indians 
here, in spite of the enemy who already began to lash 
his tail by means of a bad soldier * * * which 

greatly grieved the poor padre.* 

San Luis Obispo became in later years one of the 
wealthiest missions in the country. Mountain 

* Bancroft, History of California, I, p. 189. 



SAN LUIS OBISPO MISSION 












187 


Anxious Days 

streams watered the rich lands in which were 
grown olives, apples, pears, figs, grapes, peaches, 
and other fruits, and cotton in large quantities. The 
first tiles in use in California were manufactured 
in this mission. 

Descending to the coast again, Junipero and his 
party entered the beautiful region of the Santa 
Barbara channel, which long ago had been chosen 
as a desirable place for the establishment of San 
Buenaventura. Junipero determined to found this 
mission on his return journey. He seems to have 
entertained a particularly ardent wish to establish 
San Buenaventura, partly because his powerful 
friend and supporter, the Visitador General, Jose 
de Galvez, had chosen to give it his special patron¬ 
age. Strangely enough, in spite of Junipero’s 
repeated efforts, he did not succeed in founding the 
mission till shortly before his death in 1782. 
Instead of being among the first of the Alta Cali¬ 
fornia, establishments, San Buenaventura was, 
owing to certain concatenation of circumstances 
the last mission founded by the aged friar. 

The situation of the Santa Barbara Channel 
country — midway between Monterey and San 
Diego — and its dense population rendered its 
acquisition, from a temporal point of view, an 
extremely important one to the conquerors. Juni¬ 
pero realized this fully. He cherished, as we have 
seen, the plan of forming a cordon of missions, 
which, starting from the extreme south of Califor¬ 
nia, was to extend up the coast to San Francisco, 


188 


Jumpero Serra 

the distance between the missions to be but a fair 
day’s journey. It was an ambitious scheme and a 
noble one, and eventually was realized. The beau¬ 
tiful camino real of later days was the footpath of 
the padres and their Indians as they traveled to and 
from their missions. 

Ten days after leaving Padre Cavalier and his 
small guard to erect the buildings at leisure, the 
travelers arrived at San Gabriel. It was Fray 
Junipero’s first visit to the mission. As he let his 
gaze wander over the rich undulating country, he 
could see far off towards the east, towering above 
surrounding peaks, the great San Bernardino 
Mountain aglow with the splendor of the morning 
sun; to the north the lofty Sierras; while south and 
eastward stretched a plain, fertile, beautiful, and 
broad. Conditions in the San Gabriel mission had 
greatly improved, owing to the unremitting efforts 
of its ministers, and Junipero heard with delight, 
that a fair prospect existed of obtaining numerous 
converts. San Gabriel became in a short time the 
most important establishment in California. It 
served as a base for operations in the interior and 
enabled the government to carry out projects of a 
military and colonizing character, which would 
otherwise have been, if not impossible, at least 
impracticable. 

The energetic Fray remained in this mission 
only long enough to receive the padres’ reports and 
to thank them for their good work. Then he jour¬ 
neyed on, refusing to admit that he felt the strain 


Anxious Days 189 

of fatigue upon him. One of the padres from San 
Gabriel accompanied him to the southern port, to 
take charge of the supplies for his mission. Four 
days later they reached San Diego, Junipero foot¬ 
sore and very weary. His first act on arriving, 
before he rested, was to hasten to the harbor, where 
the two transports rode at anchor. The captain of 
the San Antonio was as we know, a Majorcan. It 
was he Junipero sought. It was apparent that the 
captains of the transports, discouraged by their 
previous failure to reach Monterey, had no inten¬ 
tion of attempting to make the northern port till 
the following spring. Perez was full of excuses. 
The season was late, he urged, and the autumn 
winds on the coast were violent. But Junipero 
refused to give these arguments weight. His 
Indians were near to starving, friars and soldiers 
were suffering from the scarcity of food. He 
finally wrung a promise from Perez to sail north¬ 
ward with his cargo of provisions immediately. 
Satisfied with the success of this effort the weary 
friar then superintended the packing of the mule 
train which was to carry needed supplies to San 
Luis. 

These duties accomplished, Junipero, the burden 
of fatigue great upon him, sought rest in the mis¬ 
sion. Yet even now he was permitted but a brief 
period of repose. Other matters equally, if not 
more, important were awaiting his attention. News 
had been received that Galvez, the powerful friend 
and coadjuster of the Californian conquest, had 


190 Junipero Serra 

returned to Spain. Also the viceroy, the Marquis 
de Croix, who had always extended to Junipero’s 
measures firm support and approbation, had left 
Mexico and accepted the post of captain general in 
Valencia. Whether the new viceroy, Bucareli, 
would continue the broad, friendly policy of his 
predecessor in California affairs, was not known. 
The conquest was in that critical stage when the 
firm support of a liberal-minded viceroy was neces¬ 
sary to the continuance of its existence. Rumors 
reached Junipero that the naval station at San Bias, 
from which point the transports for California 
were equipped and sent out, was for economical 
reasons to be abandoned, and the supplies for¬ 
warded overland. The adoption of such a plan 
would, from its utter infeasibility, cause the ulti¬ 
mate abandonment of the new settlements. Still 
another source of uneasiness to the friar was the 
formal demand made by the Dominicans to assist 
in an equal degree with the Franciscans in the spir¬ 
itual conquest and management of missions in 
California. 

If the new viceroy should give his sanction to 
this demand, Junipero foresaw the endless compli¬ 
cations and disagreements which such a division of 
authority would entail. Nor were these all the 
anxieties which confronted the president. There 
had existed for some time considerable friction 
between himself and Fages. Junipero’s patience 
had been sorely tried by the quarrelsome young 
officer. That the latter’s weakness was known to 


191 


Anxious Days 

the viceroy is apparent from a letter he wrote Fages 
dated December, 1772, in which he charged him 
sternly to cease quarreling with the friars, to forget 
his personal prejudices, to promote mission work 
in every way, to treat converts well, and to labor 
more worthily for the service of God and his king. 
His unfortunate temper, his shortsightedness, his 
mediocre ability combined to render the lieutenant 
unfit to govern a country as wild and remote as 
California. 

The severest trial Junipero had to encounter with 
Fages was the opposition he displayed to the found¬ 
ing of new missions. In the case of San Buena¬ 
ventura this opposition finally resulted in an open 
rupture between the two. The supplies for the 
mission, the ministers, the sacred vessels, the agri¬ 
cultural implements were all in readiness at San 
Diego, nothing was lacking for the establishment 
but the soldiers necessary to form the guard. Yet 
when Junipero applied to Fages for this guard, he 
found to his bitter disappointment, as Palou tells 
us, 

* * * the door closed upon him and the command¬ 

ant in such a mood that instead of founding new mis¬ 
sions, the plans he contemplated were disastrous to the 
prosperity of those which already existed and which had 
cost so much labor to establish.* 

To change these projects Junipero employed all 
his prudence, patience, and skill, but without avail. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 146. 


192 


Junipero Serra 

Fages not only refused to reconsider his plans, but 
even went to the trouble of copying with elaborate 
care certain instructions of the viceroy’s in which 
he cautioned the president and padres to furnish a 
good example to everyone in the province by obedi¬ 
ence to the commandant. To this communication 
Junipero contented himself with replying that 
neither he or his subordinates had failed, or ever 
would fail to respect the commandant’s orders. 

In his intercourse with Fages, Junipero was 
always courteous. He appears like the founder of 
his order, to have seen in courtesy one of the quali¬ 
ties of God. Yet he met from the young Catalan 
little more than a succession of harsh rebuffs. With 
such a man at the helm, it is not surprising that 
Junipero had a hard struggle to prevent the entire 
conquest from becoming a failure. The troubles 
arising from Fages’ attitude combined with the 
unknown policy of the new viceroy, the departure 
from Mexico of California’s most powerful friend, 
Galvez, and the abolishment of the San Bias naval 
station made the situation appear to Junipero a 
very grave one. 

He discussed the critical points in detail with the 
three missionaries who were in San Diego. All 
agreed that it was imperative for one of their num¬ 
ber to journey forthwith to Mexico, interview the 
new viceroy, arouse his interest, if possible his 
enthusiasm, in the California cause, and win from 
him concessions which would insure the existence 
of their missions. It is not surprising that the friars 


193 


Anxious Days 

with whom Junipero consulted should unanimously 
declare that he and he alone was competent to 
accomplish this task. He was the most eloquent, 
the most energetic, and mentally the best equipped 
of all their fraternity; therefore the least likely to 
encounter failure in this vital undertaking. If 
Junipero hesitated, feeling his sixty years weighing 
heavily upon him, and because of his lameness and 
the two hundred leagues * of foot journey confront¬ 
ing him to add to the fatigue of the long journey he 
so recently had completed, it was but for a short 
time. He agreed to go. And so this masterspirit of 
the California conquest roused his tired body once 
more to action and prepared for the long, and to 
him, perilous journey to the capital of New Spain. 

From the day he first stepped on California soil 
and looked down on the blue bay of San Diego, to 
that August morning in beautiful Carmel when he 
uttered his last prayer and his great tired heart 
ceased beating, he served the land of his adoption 
without faltering. It may be said of him that he 
walked the earth with bleeding feet and breathed 
out his life for California and her children. To 
have high hopes and noble aims in the morning of 
life is — happily for humanity — common to most 
men; to cleave to those hopes and keep pure those 
aims amid the trials and distractions of later days 
is achieved by some; but to follow to life’s end the 
lodestar of the soul, subordinating all else, to know 

* The Spanish judicial league was 2.634 statute 
miles. 


194 


Junipero Serra 

the flood tide of spiritual life, and not be stranded 
in the ebb, this is given only to the few who have 
been among the noble of the world. 



CHAPTER XII 


WINNING HIS ENDS IN MEXICO 

F ORTUNATELY for Junipero the transport 
San Carlos had unloaded the cargo of supplies 
and was ready to return to San Bias. It was decided 
that the friar should sail on this vessel and from San 
Bias make his way as best he could to the City of 
Mexico. It was the twentieth of October, 1772, 
when he embarked. Amid the threshing of heavy 
sprays, the pleasant cries of the seamen at their 
work, and the thundering of the sails, the San Car¬ 
los swept out into the broad Pacific and steered 
swiftly southward. Fifteen days later, with flowing 
sheets, she entered the bustling port of San Bias, 
and Fray Junipero once again set foot on what he 
termed “ Christian land ” after an absence of four 
long years. As he passed the shipyard where an 
unfinished transport, the Santiago, was lying in the 
stocks, he boarded her and made a careful exam¬ 
ination of the carrying capacity of her hold. He 
calculated with great satisfaction the quantity of 
freight the frigate, when completed, could carry to 
the California missions. He urged the leisurely 
workmen to hasten their labors on the vessel, tell¬ 
ing them he expected to return on her to San Diego. 

195 


196 Junipero Serra 

They laughed incredulously, for already they had 
heard of the viceroy’s determination to abolish the 
naval station, and knew that in all probability the 
last supply ship had sailed to California. Juni- 
pero’s confidence was great, however, that his rep¬ 
resentation would suffice to retain the old order of 
things. That he was doubtful of his ability, of his 
physical strength, to endure the difficult overland 
journey to the City of Mexico is apparent from the 
fact that at Tepic, where he arrived some days 
later, he prepared with the utmost care a long paper 
detailing the requests he considered expedient to 
lay before the viceroy. This paper he dispatched 
to the guardian of San Fernando College to be 
acted upon in the event of his own death occurring 
before he reached his destination. At Tepic he was 
relieved of one of his anxieties. Here he learned 
that the demands of the Dominicans had been set¬ 
tled by ceding to them the missions of the Penin¬ 
sula, while the Franciscans were to confine their 
interests entirely to Alta California. It was an 
arrangement that satisfied both orders and left each 
undisturbed by the other in their management of 
spiritual and temporal affairs. 

Junipero was not so pleased however with an 
order which recalled all the Franciscans in the 
peninsula to Mexico, allowing but four of the 
entire number to volunteer for duty in Alta Cali¬ 
fornia. He promptly entered a protest, and set 
forth his reasons for soliciting at least eight or ten 
additional missionaries for the new province. He 



Winning His Ends in Mexico 


197 


wrote to Palou, expressing the hope that his friend 
would be one of those who would volunteer to serve 
in Alta California. 

If you decide that there we will live and die together, 
it will give me much consolation, but I can only say that 
you must do as God inspires you and that I will conform 
to the divine will.* 

Palou’s love for his old professor is shown in the 
fact that he ignored a permission, which was almost 
a request, to return to the college in Mexico, where 
his friend, Fray Rafael Verges, had been promoted 
to the important post of Guardian. Palou was a 
man of parts, a scholar, cultured and refined; it may 
well be supposed that the prospect of returning to 
the capital, where he had influential friends anx¬ 
ious to welcome him back, and where the chances 
of rapid advancement were most favorable to him, 
would offer strong incentives for leaving the Cali¬ 
fornian wilderness. But it is pleasant to note that 
he remained faithful to Junipero and was during 
the latter’s lifetime his most enthusiastic, efficient 
colaborer. Such friendship throws an illuminating 
light on the human side of Junipero’s character. 
He appears to have possessed the faculty of attach¬ 
ing to himself men who unfalteringly followed his 
lead, undeterred by any obstacle but death. A sim¬ 
ilar friendship was that of Fray Juan Crespi and 
Fray Antonio Paterna, as well as other friars of the 

* Palou, Vida, p. 149. 


198 


Junipero Serra 

California missions. Junipero’s influence over the 
minds of men like Galvez, keen, alert, of brilliant 
intellect, of indomitable will; of men like de Croix, 
fond of the pleasures of the table, fonder of the con¬ 
tents of the wine bottle, and none too fond of celi¬ 
bate orders, whether the members thereof wore the 
Jesuit or Franciscan garb, shows him to have been 
a man of extraordinary character. 

When Junipero sailed for San Bias, he brought 
with him a young Indian convert from Monterey. 
Through him the friar hoped to stimulate the 
authorities to renewed interest in the spiritual con¬ 
quest of California. The two left Tepic after a 
short sojourn. The roads from the coast to the City 
of Mexico were little more than trails, always bad 
and often dangerous. The nerves and endurance of 
even the best traveler were taxed to the uttermost 
on this journey. There were no stage lines in Fray 
Junipero’s days, they were not introduced till 1791; 
until that time travelers had to depend entirely upon 
their own resources and precaution in crossing diffi¬ 
cult mountains and bridgeless rivers, rivers which 
were frequently high, swollen, and turbulent from 
the rains; and to these difficulties were added the 
sharp stings of innumerable mosquitos and gnats. It 
does not surprise us therefore to learn that both 
Junipero and the young neophyte fell dangerously 
ill. They had reached Guadalajara, eighty leagues 
from the coast, when they succumbed to a malig¬ 
nant fever and were so near to dying that the last 
sacrament was administered to them both. Juni- 


199 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 

pero was greatly distressed by the thought that he 
had brought the young Californian so far from his 
home to die. He was filled with anxious forebod¬ 
ings lest the friends and relatives of the Indian 
should refuse to attribute his death to natural causes 
and seek to avenge it. He prayed ceaselessly as he 
lay on his fever bed, that the life of his companion 
be spared. In time the fevers abated and they both 
recovered. As soon as their strength permitted, 
they resumed their journey. When within forty 
leagues of the capitol, and in the city of Queretaro, 
the old friar’s strength gave out and from sheer 
exhaustion he again fell dangerously ill. He was 
housed in the Franciscan college at Queretaro, 
where the physician in charge attended him. After 
the third visit to his patient, the doctor announced 
that the end was near. Once again Fray Junipero 
prepared to take the last sacrament. It happened 
that a visiting physician, who had just arrived in 
the college, heard of the old man’s illness. Curious- 
ity to see the friar, of whose reputation he had 
heard, prompted him to ask permission to visit the 
sick room. He appears to have been a man of 
greater skill or penetration than the attending doc¬ 
tor, for having exchanged a few words with Juni¬ 
pero, he cried cheerfully, “ Is this the father to 
whom you intend to give the last sacrament? You 
may as well give it to me, in that case! You can 
rise, father, you are well, nothing is the matter with 
you.” 

To those in attendance he said, “ Tell the Father 


200 


Junipero Serra 

Guardian we will have no last sacrament,” and 
again turning to Junipero, he added, “ If it were 
not so late in the day already, I would let you rise 
now. But tomorrow you can leave your couch and 
when you are thoroughly rested and a little 
stronger, you can continue your journey.” * 

It needed but this encouragement to summon 
back the tired old man’s belief in his own strength. 
A few days later he set forth again, arriving in 
Mexico February 6, 1773, “ very tired, disfigured 
and thin,” (muy cansado , disfigurado, y flaco).\ 
While we leave Junipero to recuperate in the San 
Fernando College, we will anticipate him in mak¬ 
ing the acquaintance of the new viceroy. Antonio 
Maria Bucareli was related to the highest nobility 
of Spain and Italy. His family could boast of hav¬ 
ing given to the church of Rome three popes and a 
goodly number of cardinals, as well as high officials 
in the state and royal army. Bucareli himself was 
the recipient of special kingly favors. These favors, 
like many kingly ones, were not bestowed on a man 
without merit. Bucareli possessed energy, resolute¬ 
ness, an honest desire to manage wisely and econom¬ 
ically the royal treasury in New Spain, to keep well 
replenished the king’s coffers and not overburden 
the people with taxation. When he came to Mex¬ 
ico he did not comprehend the movement in Cali¬ 
fornia, nor its importance to Spain. He had 

* Palou, Vida, p. 151. 
t Ibid, p. 157. 


201 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 

ordered the abandonment of San Bias as a naval 
station from economical motives. The expense of 
retaining this station was great, and its necessity not 
apparent to the viceroy. He knew the policy of the 
king was to occupy and control all the northwest 
coast, thereby excluding foreign powers from the 
northern country and from encroaching on his 
southern possessions. That the expensive San Bias 
establishment was imperative to the continuance 
of this policy he did not believe. The supplies for 
the Alta California, settlements could, he had been 
assured, be sent by small boats across the gulf and 
hence overland by mule trains at a far less cost to 
the government. Whether the guardian of San 
Fernando College attempted to disprove these 
assertions is not apparent, but in any case, when 
Fray Junipero arrived in Mexico the viceroy had 
already determined upon the new method of for¬ 
warding supplies to California. To convince Buca- 
reli not only of the impracticability of this plan but 
that its adoption would infallibly result in the 
abandonment of the new province, became the first 
task which Junipero set himself. 

The reception the viceroy accorded the humble 
Majorcan, when he presented himself, was a 
friendly one; yet the friar’s anxiety must have been 
great lest his mission fail. He did not waste words, 
but immediately explained the object of his coming. 
With all his humility, Junipero knew how to speak 
out boldly when occasion required. No awe of 
superior power, of aristocratic lineage, would keep 


202 


Junipero Serra 

the peasant-born priest silent when the great spirit¬ 
ual conquest of California was endangered. He 
expressed his opinion with a simplicity and frank¬ 
ness which did not fail to produce a strong 
impression. 

Bucareli recognized immediately the superior 
intelligence abiding in the pale, emaciated old man, 
who spoke with the conviction of absolute knowl¬ 
edge of his subject. He listened attentively while 
Junipero proved point by point the impracticable¬ 
ness of the viceroy’s plans. The great expense of 
the San Bias station, he said, had been due to the 
building of new transports and warehouses. This 
outlay would no longer be necessary. The ware¬ 
houses were completed and the vessels already in 
commission. On the other hand, if the supplies 
were sent overland, the cost to the government 
would be enormous. Not less than fifteen hun¬ 
dred mules would be required for transportation, 
besides a guard of one hundred men and as many 
horses. All this would require so long a time in the 
preparation that famine would again threaten Cal¬ 
ifornia and the province would probably be aban¬ 
doned. Junipero also pointed out that the constant 
passage of caravans, of rough, immoral men, indif¬ 
ferent to the great object of the conquest, would 
unavoidably have a disastrous effect upon the 
natives who lived along the route between Velicata 
and Monterey. 

Viceroy Bucareli was unable to answer these 
arguments, had he desired to do so. He was 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 203 

deeply impressed by the clear, concise statement, 
as well as by the keen enthusiasm of a man who, 
lame, weak, and old had nevertheless taken so long 
and perilous a journey by land and sea to present 
his cause. He saw that Junipero was not a mere 
zealot, that though a perfect priest, he was more 
than that, he was a man of resolution, vigorous 
action, cultivated mind, and penetrating observa¬ 
tion, that in his old age he had as much unconquer¬ 
able vitality as when a young monk he determined 
to devote his life to converting the savage hordes 
inhabiting New Spain. Bucareli suddenly felt a 
keen desire to extend all possible assistance to this 
champion of the California cause. He told Juni¬ 
pero to prepare in writing a categorical statement 
of the suggestions he wished to make on the sub¬ 
ject of the California settlements. He then dis¬ 
missed him, promising speedily and favorably if 
possible to consider his plans. 

But Junipero was not ready to be dismissed. 
With quiet persistency he reminded Bucareli of 
the necessity of immediately forwarding orders to 
San Bias that vessels should continue to carry the 
usual supplies to California, or those in the pro¬ 
vince would be in danger of starving while the 
transportation problem was being discussed in 
Mexico. The viceroy may well have been sur¬ 
prised at the fearless and obstinate stand of this 
lowly friar. Nevertheless he recognized the force 
of Junipero’s argument and promised to dispatch 
couriers to the coast without delay. He then again 


204 


Jumpero Serra 

dismissed the visitor, whose words and bearing had 
so deeply impressed him. 

Junipero returned to the college where he 
spent the following two days busily preparing his 
representacion. When it was completed, he again 
sought the viceroy, and handing him the document 
said: 

I hope your Excellency will read this, and that you 
will decide that all I have asked is just and expedient 
and act upon my suggestions as soon as possible, in 
which case I will return to California contentedly, 
and if not I must return sorrowfully though always 
resigned to the will of God.* 

Junipero’s representation contained thirty-two 
suggestions. In this extensive statement he again 
demonstrated his practical intelligence, his ability 
as a man of business, as a pioneer, as a framer of 
rules and regulations, and as a missionary. He 
showed his perfect knowledge of conditions neces¬ 
sary to the prosperity of the country, and a judi¬ 
cious choice of measures to insure the stability of 
these conditions. 

He headed his long list of recommendations with 
the request for a master and mate to assist Juan 
Perez in the transport service, and asked that 
greater dispatch be made towards completing the 
large new vessel in course of construction at San 
Bias. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 154 . 


205 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 

A voyage with her [he said], together with the 
two pack boats would relieve the affliction and misery 
in the presidios and missions and keep the people 
happy and contented, which, as we all know, is highly 
important for the advancement of the conquest.* 

He advised the exploration of overland routes 
to California by way of Sonora and New Mexico 
and the assignment of the command of the expedi¬ 
tion to Captain Anza of Tubac, who had already 
volunteered for this service.t He also dwelt on the 
expediency of continuing the explorations of the 
northern coast and suggested that the vessel which 
was to sail to Monterey with supplies be put into 
commission for this purpose. He asked for the 
establishment of more presidios, an increase of ioo 
soldiers, a physician to replace Doctor Pratt, who 
died demented, and a storehouse at Monterey. He 
advocated the sending of settlers to California, and 
that young men with knowledge of farming and 
capable of teaching agricultural pursuits be 
enlisted and distributed among the missions, that 
they should not be removed or interfered with by 
the commandant and should receive sailors’ pay 
and rations, and be permitted to return after one 
year if they so desired. He also asked for two 
blacksmiths with forges, and two carpenters, that 
the Indians might be taught these trades. He 
advised a more careful and honest inspection of the 

* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 88. 

t Ibid, III, p. 41. 


206 


Jumpero Serra 

supplies shipped from San Bias to California, as 
the goods often arrived in bad condition and under 
weight. He dwelt upon the troubles between the 
Franciscans and the military authorities and 
advised that the fathers be permitted to manage 
mission Indians without the interference of the 
commandant, and that neither officers nor soldiers 
should be allowed to punish the converts. He 
asked that soldiers of bad conduct be transferred 
from the mission to the presidio at a padre’s request 
without requiring the latter to name and prove the 
offense to the commandant. He advised the 
removal of Don Pedro Fages as commandant of 
California, stating sufficient reasons why his con¬ 
tinuance in office was not conducive to spiritual or 
temporal progress in the new province, and sug¬ 
gested that the next officer in command should be 
of los senores de tropa arreglad (of the regular 
service), as being more competent to command. He 
recommended Jose Francisco Ortega as a successor 
to Fages, giving lengthy and detailed reasons for 
his preference, dwelling particularly upon his serv¬ 
ices in the overland journey to California in 1769. 

Accompanied by but one soldier he explored in ad¬ 
vance the road we would have to travel. This he did 
for more than a month, during which our journey 
lasted, there-by traveling three times the road which 
the rest of us traveled but once. * * * The 

soldier who accompanied him was frequently relieved, 
but the sergeant never.* 

* Palou’s Noticias, III, 44. 


207 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 

Junipero also referred to Ortega’s explorations 
of San Francisco, hinting that he displayed greater 
skill as an explorer than those in command of the 
expedition. In dealing with the troops he was, 
added the friar “ firm, prudent, and wise without 
being unduly severe.”* Junipero made certain 
wise and practical suggestions for improving the 
system then in use of paying California soldiers. 
His method, if adopted, would, he thought, render 
the men more contented and induce others to vol¬ 
unteer for service in the new province. He con¬ 
sidered that the time had come when the Spaniards 
should establish families in the new settlements; 
that from conquerors they should become colonists 
and for the success of this stage of the occupation, 
women were a necessity, t Their presence would, 
he said, have a good effect upon the savages, who 
had expressed the greatest astonishment at not see¬ 
ing any women among so many men, and who there¬ 
fore doubted whether marriages were customary 
among Christians. He suggested that a reward in 
live stock be bestowed upon all soldiers who mar¬ 
ried Indian women, as this would encourage them 
to settle in California and to plant and harvest for 
themselves. 

From the year 1769 — the date of the occupation 

* This strong recommendation failed, however, to 
procure the office of military ruler of California for 
Sergeant Ortega, his rank being regarded as too inferior 
for such an important post. 

t Palou’s Noticias, III, pp. 49-52. 


208 


Junipero Serra 

of Alta California — to the year of Junipero’s 
plucky journey to Mexico, these new possessions of 
the Spanish crown had been regarded merely as 
necessary points of protection to Baja California, 
and as furnishing relief stations to the Manila gal¬ 
leons, stations unprofitable in themselves and trou¬ 
blesome to maintain, and even the farseeing wis¬ 
dom of Galvez, the diplomacy of de Croix, and the 
personal observation of Governor Portola, failed 
to grasp their value as colonies. It remained for 
Junipero to arouse the viceroy to a due sense of the 
importance of colonizing the new province. 

In the midst of his projects for the maintenance 
of the missions and presidios, Junipero did not for¬ 
get the homesick soldiers who were stationed in 
California. He begged that all those who had 
families in New Spain and had long been separated 
from them be allowed to return home; that all 
deserters be pardoned, and that soldiers who were 
in ill health be granted leave of absence. Nor did 
he forget to make some earnest pleas for the needy 
missionaries. 

He asked that their meager salaries be increased 
from 300 pesos a year to 350 pesos and that they be 
awarded the same privilege as the military in Cal¬ 
ifornia in the matter of franking their letters. In 
making this request, he adds, somewhat pertinently: 

If the senors, officers and soldiers are allowed to 
dispense with the law, why not the missionaries also; 
who, then are more military than we who are always 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 209 

in the campaign and as near to the arrows of Indians 
as any soldier? * 

He then asks that the same senors officials be 
prohibiendo rigorosamente from opening or turn¬ 
ing aside the padres’ letters.! 

It was one of the many curious traits of Juni- 
pero’s character that in the midst of recommenda¬ 
tions of vital importance to the progress and wel¬ 
fare of the province, he should insert long-winded 
requests for additional supplies for his churches in 
the missions. Moreover, of these supplies he was 
satisfied with none but the best. In Article 21 of his 
representacion he reminded the viceroy that his 
Majesty was accustomed to give sacred vessels and 
vestments to the new missions, and that many of 
these donations, having been taken from the Jesuit 
establishments in Baja California, and passed on 
to the Franciscans, were found to be for the most 
part, in the matter of vestments, very ragged, soiled, 
and unserviceable; he therefore begged for a better 
assortment, in order that the missionaries might 
“ celebrate with some decency ” their church cere¬ 
monies. He also asked for four large and small 
bells for missions. 

In this connection I will add [he said] that hav¬ 
ing seen the four bells cast in San Bias foundry and 
comparing their cost with those cast in Mexico, I 

* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 59. 

t Ibid., Ill, p. 59. 


210 


Junipero Serra 

found the expense of the latter including the trans¬ 
portation charges not much greater. And in truth 
the bells of the San Bias foundry were very clumsy 
and ugly, although I am unable to pronounce on opin¬ 
ion as to the quality of their tone, for they were not 
suspended and I could not test them..* 

He also petitioned that the expenses incurred by 
his journey from California to Mexico be refunded 
to him. Junipero habitually spent his entire salary 
for the benefit of the Indians; whatever decreased 
or interfered with these expenditures was a matter 
of moment to him. In concluding his lengthy 
representacion, he begged the viceroy to decide as 
quickly as possible on its merits, in order that he 
could return “ to that poor vineyard of the Savior, 
for broken in health as I find myself it is necessary 
that I take my road very slowly.” 

When the viceroy read Junipero’s document, he 
realized that the suggestions it embodied were of 
too great importance to be either summarily dis¬ 
missed or to be acted upon without due considera¬ 
tion. He accordingly laid the whole matter before 
the junta de guerra y real hacienda. This board 
occupied six months in deciding upon the various 
recommendations. The points pertaining to the 
military establishments were referred by the junta 
to Juan Jose Echeveste, formerly an officer in the 
San Bias department, and deemed thoroughly con¬ 
versant with this part of the subject. It may well 


* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 57. 




Winning His Ends in Mexico 211 

be supposed that Junipero did not wait idly in his 
convent while his suggestions were being passed 
upon, but that he brought all his powers of elo¬ 
quence and argument to bear upon the board mem¬ 
bers who had the matter under consideration. 

His single-hearted enthusiasm for the cause in 
which he was engaged, an enthusiasm which had so 
deeply impressed the viceroy, must here also have 
had its effect. Practically all his suggestions were 
adopted and all his requests conceded, with the 
exception of a few minor ones, which included a 
refusal to refund to him the expenses of his journey 
to Mexico. 

The board’s action was a distinct triumph for 
Junipero. His representacions were now to con¬ 
stitute the new code for Alta California. 

The viceroy moreover considered his arguments 
against the abolishment of the naval station at San 
Bias so well advanced, that he ordered Junipero to 
draw up another document dealing with this sub¬ 
ject alone, and had it forwarded to Madrid, to be 
laid before the king, with the result that Carlos III. 
promptly commanded that the naval station should 
not only be retained, but that extensive improve¬ 
ments and additions should be made therein. 

In the meanwhile Echeveste had formulated a 
plan dealing with the military requirements of the 
new province. Junipero had asked for one hun¬ 
dred men; this number Echeveste reduced to 
eighty-two, including a captain and a lieutenant. 
He then assigned twenty-five men to each of the 


212 Junipero Serra 

presidios and five men to each of the six missions. 
This distribution however did not satisfy Junipero. 
He pointed out that if fifteen soldiers were assigned 
to the presidios, the missions which were far apart 
and surrounded by hordes of gentiles could each 
have a guard of ten soldiers and thus be more ade¬ 
quately protected. He was permitted to make 
these changes, which were considered not to 
embody greater importance than appeared on the 
surface. But the diplomatic friar had in view 
another object quite apart from that of protecting 
existing establishments. By doubling the guard of 
the missions, he would be able to found new mis¬ 
sions without first gaining the consent of the com¬ 
mandant, a consent which Junipero’s experience 
taught him was not easily obtained. Satisfied with 
the success of his mission, he prepared to return to 
California at once. 

He succeeded in obtaining from the viceroy a 
generous limosna in the shape of clothing, pro¬ 
visions and other supplies to the value of twelve 
thousand dollars, and five packages of blue cloth to 
be made into garments for the little Indian maids. 
Junipero was delighted, and full of hope departed 
for his adopted land. He had galvanized into life 
the dying interests of California. He bade farewell 
to the brethren in the college, kissed their feet, 
begged their forgiveness for any bad example he 
might unwittingly have set them and asked their 
blessing. All had learned to sincerely love the 
humble, kind-hearted old man. They feared the 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 213 

effects of the long and difficult journey upon his 
enfeebled health. He had not entirely recuper¬ 
ated from his past illness, and it was apparent that 
his constitution was greatly impaired by the pro¬ 
tracted fatigues he had already endured. As he 
tottered feebly from the doors of San Fernando, 
the eyes of the watching friars filled with tears. 
Not one among them doubted but that he would 
die upon the road. They were somewhat consoled 
by the knowledge that Junipero would have the 
companionship of one of their order, as Fray Pablo 
Mugartegui had volunteered to join the missionary 
band in Alta California. It was the month of 
September, 1773, when the two friars started forth 
to travel two hundred leagues to the coast. They 
arrived at Tepic without mishap. Here they were 
obliged to wait until January before an opportunity 
offered for sailing to California. Finally they 
embarked at San Bias on the Santiago, the very ves¬ 
sel Junipero had so carefully inspected on his 
arrival at that port eighteen months before. As he 
was going on board a workman accosted him. 

Padre Presidente, [he said] the prophecy you made 
to us when you arrived from Monterey that you would 
return there on the Santiago is about to be fulfilled. 
At the time we only laughed at you, for we knew 
of the order to abandon the naval station; but now 
we see that your prediction has been verified and that 
you are going on this frigate. God bless you and give 
you a happy voyage.* 


Palou, Vida, p. 158. 


214 


Junipero Serra 

Junipero smiled at this frank confidence in his 
prophetic powers, but the candid simplicity of his 
character made him promptly disabuse the man’s 
credulity: 

What I said was due only to my great desire to see 
completed such a fine large vessel, capable of carry¬ 
ing many supplies to the poor people in California, 
but I suppose that God permitted my wish to be real¬ 
ized; to Him I give thanks, and to you also as well 
as to all those who worked with you so laboriously 
for their benefit.* 

The Santiago sailed January 24, 1774. She was 
commanded by honest Juan Perez, the Majorcan, 
whom Junipero had recommended as the most 
skillful and capable navigator for the proposed 
northern explorations. The passengers, besides 
Junipero and Padre Mugartegui, and the new 
surgeon, Jose Davelo and his family, were three 
blacksmiths with their families and three car¬ 
penters. The frigate was well laden with supplies 
for the missions and presidios. After a voyage of 
forty-nine days she arrived in San Diego Bay. His 
heart throbbing with joy, Junipero stepped ashore 
and heartily embraced the friends who had 
gathered on the beach to give him welcome. There 
are few things so conducive to happiness as work 
successfully accomplished, and there is nothing so 
quickening to health as happiness. This, therefore, 


* Palou, Vida, p. 158. 



215 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 

was the reason why Fray Junipero, in spite of the 
hardships endured in many long leagues of rough 
land journeying and a wearisome sea voyage, 
returned to the home of his adoption stronger in 
health than when he left it, nearly two years 
previous. 

Before concluding this chapter let us pause a 
moment and ponder the consequences had Juni¬ 
pero failed in his mission to Mexico. The San Bias 
naval station would have.been abolished; the trans¬ 
ports would have ceased to carry supplies to Cali¬ 
fornia; and attempts would have been made to for¬ 
ward provisions by mule trains over long, sandy 
plains and rough mountain passes. These trains, 
requiring a large guard, because of the hordes of 
savages through whose country they must travel, 
would have proved an enormous expense to the 
government, and, combined with the difficulty and 
uncertainty of this mode of transfer, a more or less 
useless one. Such attempts therefore would soon 
have been abandoned. California, in the mean¬ 
while, would have remained in a condition of semi¬ 
starvation. Fages, the unpopular and incompetent, 
would have continued in command, his soldiers to 
desert, to commit lawless acts, antagonizing the sav¬ 
ages and eventually arousing their deadly enmity 
against all Spaniards; the friars would have been 
powerless to remedy these evils. No new missions 
would have been founded, no pueblos established, 
no settlers sent out. The missions already in exist¬ 
ence would one by one have fallen into decay and 


216 


Juniper o Serra 

finally been abandoned. Unsupported by an apa¬ 
thetic government, Alta California would soon 
have ceased to exist as a Spanish colony. In view 
of the proximity of Russia’s possessions on the 
northwest coast, it is idle to suppose that Russia had 
not by this time become fully cognizant of the 
Spaniards’ occupation of Alta California, and was 
not watching the progress of affairs there with deep 
interest. From the day when Czar Peter the Great, 
after long war and much bloodshed, sat himself 
down in content in “ his window looking on 
Europe,” as he called St. Petersburgh, Russia’s 
chief aim in all her wars, explorations, and diplo¬ 
macies, has been to acquire the seaports she needed 
for her pent-in nation; to this end her numerous 
struggles with the Turk to the south, and to this 
end her slow, weary progress over the frozen 
steppes of Siberia to the distant shores of the 
Pacific. 

Catherine II., “ the half glorious and wholly 
wicked,” was never too engrossed in her love 
affairs, manifold though they were, to neglect the 
affairs of her empire. During her reign she 
enlarged her vast dominions by a quarter of a mil¬ 
lion of square miles. She took the deepest interest 
in, and encouraged by promises of special rewards, 
any explorations on the Pacific. She sent out expe¬ 
ditions to the northwest coast, taking pains at the 
same time to mislead the world as to the real object 
of these expeditions. Upon the abandonment of 
Alta California by the Spaniards, it cannot be 


Winning His Ends in Mexico 217 

doubted that Catherine would have hastened to 
swoop down upon this delectable land, where she 
would have acquired one of the most magnificent 
harbors, if not the most magnificent, in the world. 
Whether Russia would have been as willing to 
yield to us so fair a portion of the Pacific coast as 
she was to yield the barren shores of Alaska — 
then regarded only as a land of arctic cold and short 
mosquito-ridden summers, a land of countless 
sphagnous swamps, vast moors, and bleak moun¬ 
tains — may be considered an open question. It is 
at least fair to assume that she would have clung 
tenaciously to a country whose future commercial 
importance the harbor of San Francisco would 
have foretold; and the consequences to the United 
States of having a great foreign power between her¬ 
self and the Pacific Ocean would surely have been 
so far reaching as to alter the trend of history. 


CHAPTER XIII 


ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN ANZA 

D URING the president’s absence, the missions 
had suffered from lack of food. Although 
the viceroy, at Junipero’s insistence, had, as we 
have seen, sent orders that a transport should be 
promptly dispatched with supplies to California, 
stormy weather and continued hard winds had 
driven the vessel up the gulf instead of out to sea, 
and the captain had found himself obliged to put in 
at Loreto, where the cargo was unloaded. The 
absence of adequate means of conveyance rendered 
it impossible to forward the provisions overland 
to the remote settlements in Alta California. Dur¬ 
ing the eight months in which no succor reached 
them, soldiers and friars had suffered many priva¬ 
tions. One is however inclined to smile over 
Palou’s mournful statement that he was even com¬ 
pelled to drink coffee in lieu of chocolate.* But 
that he was reduced to a fare distressingly frugal is 
apparent from the fact that for thirty-seven days 
he had subsisted on a few ground peas and beans 
mixed with a little milk, unrelieved by either a tor¬ 
tilla or a morsel of bread. 

* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 149. 

218 




Adventures of Captain Anza 219 

Palou had gone to Alta California as soon as the 
Dominicans had taken charge of the missions in 
the peninsula and the business of the transfer had 
been completed. When within a league of Monte¬ 
rey, he was joyfully greeted by Crespi, who, impa¬ 
tient to see his old schoolfellow, had set out to meet 
him. Palou was enthusiastic over the natural beau¬ 
ties of Monterey and Carmel, places which he had 
longed to visit ever since reading Torquemada’s 
description of the country when that friar accom¬ 
panied Vizcaino’s expedition in 1603. 

Pending Junipero’s return, Palou acted as presi¬ 
dent of the Alta California missions, with head¬ 
quarters at San Carlos. 

There is little to record of internal affairs in the 
province during this period. Everything was at a 
standstill, while both commandants, soldiers, and 
friars waited with varying degrees of interest and 
anxiety for the results of Junipero’s visit to Mexico. 
These results began to manifest themselves early in 
the following year. Don Pedro Fages had for some 
time entertained doubts as to the expediency of 
his former open and puerile hostility towards the 
friars, but he was probably far from anticipating 
the full effects of this hostility upon himself. He 
felt secure in the favor of the powerful Galvez. 
When therefore, rumors reached him that Captain 
Rivera y Moncada had orders to supersede him in 
his command, and that extensive plans were on foot 
for increasing the importance of the province, he 
was filled with chagrin. The soldiers, on the 


220 


Jumpero Serra 

contrary, were delighted at the prospect of being 
rid of an officer whose harsh treatment and petty 
tyranny made him universally disliked and earned 
for him the soubriquet of el Oso (the bear). The 
friars diplomatically refrained from any expression 
on the subject and contented themselves with await¬ 
ing the return of their president. 

At the very time that Junipero was embarking 
at San Bias on a transport laden with supplies for 
California, Captain Rivera y Moncada, with fifty 
soldiers, was marching northward to the same des¬ 
tination to assume command, and Captain Anza, 
in the distant presidio of Tubac, in Sonora, was 
engaged in exploring the overland route. Let us 
turn our attention for a time to this last journey. 
It will be remembered that in Junipero’s represen- 
tacion he strongly advocated an exploration from 
Sonora to Alta California for the purpose of open¬ 
ing a route which would establish land communica¬ 
tions between the new province and the central 
government; and he .recommended Captain Juan 
Bautista Anza as an eminently suitable person to 
take command of the enterprise. 

Anza was as brave and gallant an officer as his 
father had been before him; he was a man of action, 
a splendid patriot, as liberal with his money as he 
was ready with his life to serve his country. When 
Galvez was preparing his great expedition of 1769, 
Captain Anza offered to fit out at his own expense 
a land party and meet the explorers in Alta Cali¬ 
fornia. His offer was declined by the Visitador 


Adventures of Captain Anza 221 

General, who considered the enterprise unneces¬ 
sary.* 

It was not until after Junipero’s argument in 
favor of this exploration that the viceroy dispatched 
orders to Anza to make the journey at the govern¬ 
ment’s expense. 

So it happened that while the president was 
hastening back to California, Captain Anza was 
marching by way of Caborca and Sonoita to the 
junction of the Gila and the Colorado, bound for 
the same goal. He did not start, however, without 
first encountering serious difficulties. He had 
obtained his complement of men, collected his 
horses and cattle, and was resolved on a speedy 
departure, when his old enemies, the Apaches, 
swooped down upon the presidio on one of their 
characteristic raids, killed some of his men and 
relieved him of a fair portion of his live stock. 

Anza was unable to supplement the loss of his 
soldiers by further reinforcements, and was com¬ 
pelled to start with a reduced force, numbering in 
all not more than twenty-four men, including the 
muleteers and Indian servants, who were in charge 
of the animals. 

In a measure he was compensated for the delay 
entailed by his loss by the unexpected appearance 
of an Indian guide. This man was a Baja Califor¬ 
nian neophyte named Sebastian Tarabal, who had 
escaped from the San Gabriel mission, traversed 


Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 155. 




222 


Junipero Serra 

the desert, crossed the Colorado River and finally 
turned up at Tubac.* He had therefore success¬ 
fully made the very journey upon which Anza was 
about to engage. 

The captain was not slow to see the advantage 
such a man would be to him and promptly availed 
himself of his services. It is said that Sebastian 
was accompanied in his flight from the mission by 
his wife and another neophyte, both of whom per¬ 
ished miserably, unable to endure the hardships 
encountered in their wanderings. 

At the head of his little cavalcade, which 
included two Franciscan friars (one of them the 
adventurous explorer, Padre Garces), Anza set out 
from the presidio one morning in early January. 

A month’s uneventful travel brought him to the 
Gila, at its junction with the Colorado. Here the 
Spaniards were received with great friendliness by 
Palma, the celebrated Yuma chief, who enter¬ 
tained them hospitably in his rancheria. There 
were many rancherias on the banks of the Colorado, 
and many cultivated fields of maize, wheat, beans, 
gourds, and watermelons. The Indians were well 
formed and to a certain extent civilized. They 
had an abundance of horses and mares which they 
obtained from Sonora; every Indian rode, the 
women as well as the men, using pieces of skin in 
lieu of saddles.! These savages bore slight resem- 

* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 156. 

t Ibid., Ill, p. 157. 


Adventures of Captain Anza 223 

blance, if any, to the lazy, filthy, and brutish Cali¬ 
fornians. 

After a short rest, Anza and his party crossed the 
Colorado. Palma accompanied them several 
leagues upon their way. To cement the friendship 
of this powerful chieftain of the fierce and warlike 
Yumas, Anza decorated him with a badge of office 
under the King of Spain. This meaningless bauble 
greatly impressed the Indian; he swore eternal 
fidelity to his royal master, and gratitude to the 
donor of the trinket. Anza, though pleased with 
the good effect produced both by his gift and his 
fair treatment of the Indians, was far from realiz¬ 
ing the importance of Palma’s pledge, until the 
following year when the Yumas refused to join the 
Dieguenos in a general uprising against the Span¬ 
iards in California. 

After separating from Palma, the travelers 
journeyed on, trusting to their guide, Sebastian. 
But whether by design or accident, the neophyte 
led them too far southward, and they found them¬ 
selves in the upper part of Baja California, in a 
desolate region without grass or water. They 
wandered aimlessly about for six days, then finally 
made their way back again to the friendly Yuma 
chieftain. From here a fresh start was made to cross 
the great desert, but not before Anza disencum¬ 
bered his expedition of a large part of the cattle, 
which he left with Palma, together with nine of his 
own men. Thus in lighter marching order, he set 
out again, following a route which lies south of the 


224 


Junipero Serra 

present Santa Fe railroad, but which was prac¬ 
tically the same before he reached the gloomy San 
Gorgonio Pass. 

After twenty days of marching and more than 
eight weeks from the day he left the Tubac presidio, 
Anza and his party passed through the palisade 
gates of the San Gabriel mission. Their rations 
were exhausted, and they had looked forward to a 
feast of plenty at San Gabriel. In this, however, 
they were disappointed, for destitution almost 
equal to their own reigned in the mission. Never¬ 
theless friars and soldiers gave them a hearty greet¬ 
ing, and a cow was slaughtered in their honor. But 
before the hungry explorers and equally hungry 
San Gabrielites feasted, they listened dutifully to a 
mass, te deum, and sermon of welcome. 

Anza rested a few days, then hurried on to 
Monterey, hoping to meet Junipero there. He took 
with him an escort of six men, leaving the other 
members of his expedition to recuperate at San 
Gabriel. But Fray Junipero had not yet arrived at 
Monterey. When he had stepped ashore at San 
Diego, and learned of the distress existing in all 
the settlements because of lack of food, he had 
promptly decided to continue the journey to 
Monterey overland, in order to visit the missions 
on the way and himself bring the succor they so 
greatly needed. Junipero possessed in an eminent 
degree the faculty of cheering and stimulating those 
with whom he came in contact. Of this he was 
undoubtedly sensible, and realizing that among the 


225 


Adventures of Captain Anza 

missionaries were some who, discouraged, desired 
to be relieved from the prolonged and lonely 
struggle in California and return to Mexico, he 
started forth to see them, to equip them anew with 
cheerful energy for their work, and to help them 
forget the inevitable hardships accompanying life 
in a wilderness, in the glad hope of a future reward. 
The Santiago therefore sailed up the coast to 
Monterey without him, while he trudged on foot, 
bound for the same destination. He was one month 
making the journey. On the road he met Captain 
Anza, who, failing to find the president at Mon¬ 
terey, had remained there but three days, then 
turned south again to join his company at San 
Gabriel. Both officer and friar were delighted at 
this encounter. Junipero asked to hear the details 
of Anza’s journey from Sonora across the Colorado 
desert. He listened with the keenest interest and 
gratification, as the officer recounted the successful 
issue of his exploration. They discussed the general 
practicableness of this overland route, the report 
Anza would make to the viceroy regarding it, and 
the various advantages the opening of the new road 
would bring to Alta California. Anza is one of the 
most picturesque and gallant figures in early Cali¬ 
fornia history. His achievement in making a suc¬ 
cessful journey of a thousand miles, the greater part 
of it over the untried Arizona desert was as extraor¬ 
dinary as it was brave. 

After a short rest the two plucky travelers wished 
one another Godspeed and parted in the wilderness, 


226 Jumpero Serra 

the soldier on horseback, the friar on foot. A short 
distance below Monterey Junipero was met by his 
two old friends the Padres Crespi and Palou. They 
had hastened out to welcome him home again. Says 
Palou: 

His safe return was for us all a great happiness 
not only because of the excellent measures he had 
so successfully obtained for the advancement of the 
conquest, but principally to see him more robust 
in health and stronger after so many illnesses and the 
fatigue of his long journey.* 

The road the three friends traveled together that 
day from Monterey to Carmel is still pointed out to 
visitors as the old padres’ road. It leads over oak- 
clad hills and through thick forests of pine and 
cypresses, where the waves dashing against the 
great rocks can be heard and often seen, and the 
salt flavor of the ocean clings to the lips, and odors 
of rosemary and sweet lavender scent the air. Juni- 
pero’s mission was at the head of a small canon. 
The aspect of the surrounding country has changed 
but little since the good friar’s day. In the near 
distance lie the long-sweeping slopes of the Santa 
Lucia range, its serrated lines sharply profiled 
against the sky, its base girdled by fertile fields of 
wild flowers, and cool stretches of forest of live oaks 
and cypresses. Not a few of these trees are over six 
feet in diameter, and close to two hundred feet in 


* Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 149. 



227 


Adventures of Captain Anza 

height. Great festoons of gray moss hang from 
the branches, adding strikingly to their antiquated 
appearance. In places where the soft summer fogs 
have caressed the giant hills, an emerald tint is seen, 
mingling with the parched browns and yellows that 
predominate in the dry seasons. Back of the mission 
throbs the great Pacific, tossing the spray of its 
waves high, to fall again on sand of such dazzling 
whiteness, its equal is scarce to be found in the 
world. To the present-day visitor there is some¬ 
thing memorable in the sense of restfulness, of 
pleasant peace that breathes from this scene, as if it 
were the blessing of Fray Junipero himself on 
those who tarry near his favorite mission. Perhaps 
San Carlos more than any other mission in Cali¬ 
fornia produces on us the strong impression of one 
man’s character and endeavor. When Junipero 
trod painfully, haltingly, long stretches of wilder¬ 
ness, and established the line of missions on the 
shores of the Pacific, he trod a vast amount of 
history into the soil of California. And when he 
lay down to rest in his well-loved San Carlos church 
he closed his tired eyes on a world in which he 
had labored zealously and effected extraordinary 
things. It is in the San Carlos mission that one 
seems to be brought in closer sympathy -with the 
personality of this remarkable friar. 

It was the first time the three friends were 
assigned to the same mission since their arrival in 
America. Their reunion in San Carlos therefore 
was to them a particularly joyful one. 


228 


Junipero Serra 

Though so dissimilar in character, these Major- 
can friars represented the finest type of missionary. 
Palou was the youngest of the three. He had prob¬ 
ably already begun to write his Noticias, which, 
together with his Vida del V. Padre Fr . Junipero 
Serra, constitutes the standard history of early 
California days. His pure Castilian style, at once 
simple, and elegant, has been commented upon 
even by present-day critics. A refined scholar him¬ 
self, he entertained the highest regard for the 
scholarship of others. He was noble minded, gen¬ 
erous, and practical. If it is permissible to draw 
inferences of an author’s personality from his 
writings, one is tempted to apply to Palou the 
greatly abused term, “ cultured gentleman.” 

Juan Crespi possessed less intellectual force than 
Francisco Palou, but in piety and loyal discharge 
of his duties was not a whit inferior to his old 
schoolmate. He was something of a dreamer, in 
character, gentle, lovable, and unselfish. There was 
a certain charming ingenuousness in Padre Juan 
that remained with him to the end of his days. 

Junipero Serra was the oldest of the friends. It 
is scarcely necessary to sketch again the portrait of 
this remarkable monk, the master-spirit of the Cali¬ 
fornia conquest. The moral grandeur of the man, 
his indomitable spirit, his energy, his capacity, his 
keen-sightedness meet us at every turn. Nature had 
given him the intellect of a profound scholar 
coupled with the practical abilities of a man of 
affairs. 


Adventures of Captain Anza 229 

Seated in their rude dwelling at the close of day, 
the friars discussed the subjects nearest their hearts, 
the conversions of gentiles, the prosperity of the 
missions, Junipero asking and answering questions 
and listening to the accounts his friends gave of the 
events in California during his long absence. It 
may well be supposed that there were not wanting 
instances to be related of arbitary rulings on the 
part of Captain Fages, and tales of discontented, 
discouraged friars who wished to return to Mexico. 
But one of Fray Junipero’s most pronounced char¬ 
acteristics was a strong aversion to personalities in 
conversation, unless they were of a friendly nature. 
Harsh criticisms of absent ones he would not 
tolerate; he quietly changed the conversation or 
said plainly: “ Let us not talk about that. It causes 
me pain.” 

Palou compares Junipero to the tree of his name, 
which scared away all serpents and poisonous 
animals: 

Juniperus arbor est crescens in desertis, cujus um - 
bram serpentes fugiunt, ideo in umbra ejus homines 
secure dormiunt . It is the same with our Junipero, 
for in his presence no one heard or could speak but 
what was edifying.* 

Junipero had been in his mission little more than 
a week when Captain Rivera y Moncada arrived in 
Monterey to supersede Don Pedro Fages as mili¬ 
tary ruler of Alta California. 


* Palou, Vida, p. 301. 


230 Junipero Serra 

The new commandant had not been Junipero’s 
choice. A keen observer of men, quick to judge of 
their capabilities, he had in the matter of Rivera’s 
fitness to govern the province very much the same 
opinion as Galvez. For this reason he had urged 
the selection of Sergeant Ortega—(since pro¬ 
moted to his lieutenancy) for commandant. Rive¬ 
ra’s appointment, however, was by no means 
entirely displeasing to the president. The captain’s 
popularity with his soldiers and his sound morality 
might well weigh in Junipero’s opinion against a 
certain lack of force and competency. 

With the arrival of his successor and the near 
approach of his own departure, Fages’ attitude 
towards Junipero underwent a marked change. As 
was often the case when the young officer found 
himself in difficulties, he appealed for assistance to 
the very men whom on other occasions he habit¬ 
ually treated with haughty insolence. He had 
become suddenly apprehensive of the reception the 
viceroy would accord him on his return to Mexico. 
He might be received not merely with coldness, 
but with reproaches for having neglected so fair 
an opportunity of promoting the prosperity of the 
province and of having followed too much the 
whims of his own prejudices. It was necessary to 
convince Bucareli that he — Don Pedro Fages — 
was not as black as he had been painted, that, in 
point of fact, he was a very fine fellow, indeed, and 
adapted to fill creditably any desirable post the 
viceroy might happen to have vacant. In such a 


231 


Adventures of Captain Anza 

matter, whose influence would count more with 
the viceroy than Fray Junipero’s? No scruples of 
pride deterred Don Pedro where his own interests 
were at stake. Yet he hesitated to approach Juni- 
pero himself, remembering perhaps somewhat too 
vividly, even for his complacency, the many 
affronts he had put upon the old man. Accordingly, 
he made occasion to meet one of the friars — prob¬ 
ably the good-natured Crespi — whom he knew to 
be highly esteemed by Junipero, and besought him 
to prevail upon the president to write a letter of 
“ recommendation to the Senor Virey.” The friar 
promised to do his best.* 

What Junipero thought of this extraordinary 
request is not apparent. He was, however, essen¬ 
tially a kind-hearted man and not one to bear malice 
towards anyone, least of all towards a fallen foe. 
His reply was, therefore, such as one might expect. 
“ I will write with pleasure,” he said. 

The letter of “ recommendation ” could not have 
been an easy one to indite. While Fages’ achieve¬ 
ments in California had been few — he had hunted 
bear to some good purpose — his mistakes had been 
many, his temper troublesome, and his disposition 
quarrelsome. Junipero, however, made the most 
of the young officer’s good qualities and wrote a 
letter t so friendly in tone and spirit that it served 
well the purpose which Fages had desired. 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 302, 303. 

t The reply which Junipero received to this letter 


232 Junipero Serra 

In the meantime, Captain Rivera was busy 
taking over Fages’ command. The account which 
has come down to us of this transfer of authority 
does not show either officer in an enviable light. 
The conduct of Fages was childish and undignified, 
that of Rivera y Moncada pompous and petty. The 
two men had never been friendly; from the time 
when Captain Rivera, the ranking officer, found 
himself superseded in command by the young 
lieutenant of the Catalan Volunteers in 1769, he 
had felt himself aggrieved and slighted, and like 
many weak men cherishing a grievance, allowed it 
to expand into a deep dislike of his more fortunate 
brother officer. He returned to California clothed 
in his new authority, with a feeling perilously near 
to vulgar spite for his former rival, and with a 
determination to show him the least possible con¬ 
sideration. Don Pedro however appears to have 
planned carefully to demonstrate his disregard and 
contempt of Rivera’s authority. The following ac¬ 
count of this childish incident between the first 
rulers of California is given by a well-known his¬ 
torian: 

Without any expenditure of courteous phrases, he 
[Rivera] ordered Fages to prepare his accounts and 
get ready to sail on the San Antonio, taking with him 
all his men, except ten who were to be retained until 

reached him the following year. The viceroy in his 
answer showed an appreciative understanding of the 
motives which had prompted Junipero to write his 
letter of recommendation.* 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 302, 303. 


Adventures of Captain Anza 233 

the new force arrived from the peninsula. Fages, 
though of course obliged to obey the viceroy’s orders, 
was not the man to quit the country without making 
a show of independence and an effort for the last 
word. A caustic correspondence followed, little of 
which is extant, but in which Rivera, with the vantage 
ground of his superior authority, by no means carried 
off all the honors. Fages claimed the right to em¬ 
bark at San Diego, wishing to obtain certain receipts 
from padres and corporals at the several missions. 
Rivera replies: “The viceroy does not order me to 
allow the volunteers and you to embark at San Diego, 
but simply by the First vessel. His excellency knows 
very well that this presidio is the capital where you 
reside; therefore this is the place he speaks of and 
from this place you must sail.” Whereupon Don 
Pedro, as he might have done before, shows a permit 
from the viceroy to sail from San Diego, of later date 
than the commander’s instructions, and Rivera was 
forced to yield. Again Fages announced that he had 
some animals set apart for his own use which he pro¬ 
posed to take away with him to San Diego, and after 
Rivera’s prompt refusal to allow any such outrageous 
use of the king’s property, proceeded to prove that 
the mules were his own. Then he pleaded for more 
time to arrange his accounts, which could not be com¬ 
pleted before the sailing of the San Antonio; but after 
getting an insolent permission to wait for the Santiago, 
he decided to start at once, and leave the accounts to 
a clerk. Having gathered this much from Rivera’s 
letters, it is hard to resist the conclusion that if Fages’ 
letters were extant, they would show the writer with 
perfect sang-froid, if not always with dignity, engaged 
in a deliberate epistolary effort to annoy his exultant 
and pompous rival.* 


* Bancroft, History of California, I, p. 226. 


234 Jumpero Serra 

Fages, with a suitable escort, went overland to 
San Diego, and from there took a transport to San 
Bias. Before he reached the City of Mexico he was 
robbed by his servant of a box containing a large 
sum of money. Besides this misfortune he was 
seized with an illness and arrived in the capital 
very much broken in health. We will add here, 
that the viceroy, influenced thereto by Junipero’s 
letter, gave him the command of a troop and that 
later he was ordered to the Sonora frontier, where 
he served in the wars against the Apaches, where 
for the present we will leave him. 


CHAPTER XIV 


MARTYRDOM AT SAN DIEGO 

D URING the transactions described in the fore¬ 
going chapter, Perez was occupied in pre¬ 
paring his ship — the Santiago — for an exploring 
expedition up the coast. It will be recalled that 
Junipero had suggested to the viceroy the ways and 
means of making this expedition and had obtained 
his consent for its undertaking, a consent all the 
more readily given inasmuch as Spain was desirous 
of knowing how far Russia’s movements extended 
in the northwest. 

Perez had unloaded his cargo of supplies for the 
presidio and mission, made all necessary repairs, 
and in less than a month from the time of his arrival 
in the port of Monterey, was ready to sail. 

The chaplain of the Santiago being stricken 
with illness it became necessary to appoint a substi¬ 
tute. The president’s choice fell upon his old friend 
Crespi, who was ordered to accompany the expedi¬ 
tion, not only as chaplain but also in the capacity 
of chronicler., 

Perez’s instructions were to sail as far north as 
latitude 6o°, to note advantageous points for future 

235 


236 Junipero Serra 

settlements and to take possession of them in the 
name of his majesty Carlos III., by erecting a cross 
and burying at its base the usual papers claiming 
right of possession. He was strictly enjoined from 
divulging the motives of his voyage to strangers. 
If he chanced to meet with vessels he was to attrib¬ 
ute his appearance in northern waters to the winds 
which had driven him far out of his course while 
he was carrying supplies to Monterey. His instruc¬ 
tions also included an order to return to Monterey 
before the beginning of the equinox, in order to 
lessen, as far as possible, the chances of mishaps to 
frigate and explorers. The character of the coast 
was unknown and the Spaniards possessed no maps 
to guide the navigators. 

Perez sailed as far as latitude SS°~ 3 f - The island 
off the coast of Canada, now known as Queen 
Charlotte, which Perez named the Santa Margar¬ 
ita, was discovered on this expedition. From here 
the explorers sailed in a southeasterly direction, 
surveying the coast. At a point near Nootka Sound, 
Perez tried to land and erect the cross, but violent 
winds suddenly rising caused him to abandon the 
attempt as involving unnecessary danger. Padre 
Crespi has left an interesting account of the Indians 
they met on this voyage when the frigate anchored 
in the harbor. The savages paddled out in immense 
canoes which held an incredible number of them. 
They were eager barterers and exchanged for 
pieces of iron beautifully carved articles of wood, 
well-made hair blankets, and mats and hats neatly 


Martyrdom at San Diego 


237 


plaited of bark. They were friendly folk, well 
formed, and the greater number were clothed in 
garments of skin or in blankets. 

The women, [says Padre Crespi] came well- 
covered and clothed in the same manner as the men, 
except that from the lower lip of each woman hung 
a disk of wood, which seemed to be very broad and 
which defaced her greatly, for from a distance it had 
the effect of a tongue pulled out or hanging out. With 
a simple movement of the lip she could cover and 
conceal her mouth and nostrils.* 

He adds with unconscious irony that he does not 
know whether this disk was meant as an adornment 
or not, but from what he had observed of the sex 
elsewhere is inclined to believe it was intended as 
such. 

Perez soon began his return voyage; the heavy 
fogs along the coast were not conducive to satisfac¬ 
tory explorations. He arrived in the harbor of 
Monterey August 27, having been gone not quite 
three months. Crespi returned to his mission, San 
Carlos, and gave an account of the voyage to Juni- 
pero, which the latter forwarded to the viceroy. The 
occupation of the port of San Francisco remained 
still to be an accomplished fact. The large bay 
discovered by Portola’s party in 1769 had not yet 
been explored. It was not known whether the bay 
contained a good harbor, or if containing it, in what 


* Crespi’s Diary in Palou’s Noticias, III, p. 189. 


238 


Jumper o Serra 

part of the immense sheet of water it was to be 
found. As such explorations would have to be made 
with boats, and as none were available at the 
time, Palou suggested the expediency of sending 
out a land party to seek a suitable site for the San 
Francisco mission, which establishment he was to 
administer. Rivera agreed to this plan. Accord¬ 
ingly in November the expedition set forth. It was 
commanded by Rivera himself, and included 
Palou, an escort of sixteen soldiers, two servants, 
and a mule train, carrying supplies sufficient for 
forty days. 

During this exploring expedition, the details of 
which it is not necessary to give here, Palou and 
Rivera were the first white men to cross the sand 
dunes of San Francisco, descend to the bay and 
follow the white curving line of the beach which 
has since become so popular as a fashionable prom¬ 
enade. The Spanish officer and Spanish priest 
looked down upon the famous “ seal-rocks ” from 
probably the very spot where now the “ Cliff 
House ” caters yearly to thousands of visitors from 
every quarter of the globe. The expedition returned 
in December to Monterey, the winter rains having 
made further explorations unpracticable. Nothing 
more was done to further the northern project, until 
three months later, when by Bucareli’s order, five 
officers of the Spanish navy, commanding a fleet of 
four vessels, set sail from San Bias in March. 

On the return of this expedition an officer, by 
name Captain Hecata, who had accompanied it, 


239 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

pronounced San Francisco one of the finest ports 
in the possession of Spain. 

We will not close the subject of these expeditions 
to the north, without a few words concerning the 
trusty Majorcan sailor, Juan Perez. When he 
brought the Santiago back to Monterey, he steered 
his ship for the last time into port. The second day 
out on his return voyage to San Bias he died and 
was buried at sea. The news of his death did not 
reach Monterey till a year later, when Junipero 
said mass for the soul of his countryman. 

Perez’s death was a distinct loss to California. 
He had been the first of his contemporaries to reach 
San Diego and Monterey; he was more familiar 
with the California coast than any other navigator 
of his time; and as a skilled, experienced pilot few 
surpassed him. 

In his last expedition Juan Perez, 

* * * though he had not reached latitude 6o°, as 

instructed, nor discovered any good ports, nor landed 
anywhere to take possession for Spain, nor found either 
foreign establishments or proof of their non-existence, 
had still gained the honor of having discovered prac¬ 
tically the Northwest Coast. He had surveyed a large 
portion of the two great islands that make up the coast 
of British Columbia, giving the first description of the 
natives; he had seen and described, though vaguely 
and from a distance, nearly all of the Washington coast 
and a large part of the Oregon. He had given to his 
nation whatever credit and territorial claims may be 
founded on the mere act of first discovery. To give 
any degree of precedence in these respects to later 


240 Jumpero Serra 

navigators who were enabled to make a more detailed 
examination is as absurd as to regard the officers of 
the United States Coast survey, who have done such 
excellent service for geography and commerce, as the 
discoverers of the Northwest Coast.* 

While these northern expeditions were in 
progress, Junipero had arranged for the establish¬ 
ment of a new southern mission which was to be on 
the coast some twenty-six leagues above San Diego. 
The mission was to be called San Juan Capistrano. 
The president’s instructions were lengthy and 
minute. Although he? issued his instructions in 
August, it was not until late in October that they 
were put into execution. The delay was probably 
due to the time consumed by couriers in carrying 
communications through the California wilderness. 
Lieutenant Ortega, commanding the San Diego 
presidio, assisted at the founding of the new mis¬ 
sion, which took place October 31, 1775. The usual 
religious ceremonies were performed, accompanied 
by the ringing of bells and firing of guns. 

Work on the buildings was progressing rapidly; 
friars and soldiers were in the best of spirits, when 
a courier suddenly appeared in their midst with 
sinister news of a formidable Indian rising at San 
Diego, and of a desperate attack on the mission. 
Ortega, without waiting for further particulars, 
threw himself on his horse and, accompanied by 

* Bancroft, Discovery of the Northwest Coast, pp. 
156, 157. 





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241 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

part of the soldiers, hurried off to San Diego. The 
knowledge that his young son and nephew were in 
the mission lent additional speed to his flight. The 
two friars, in the meanwhile, buried the bells and, 
leaving the uncompleted buildings, set out with the 
remaining soldiers for the scene of the attack. They 
did not learn the full extent of the disaster which 
had overtaken the first settlement of civilized man 
in Alta California, until their arrival at the 
presidio. 

The San Diego missions had been moved the 
previous year two leagues from the fort to a site 
where the land was more fertile and the water 
supply more adequate. Notwithstanding that the 
San Dieguenos had from the first showed a marked 
distrust and dislike of the Spaniards, the latter felt 
no uneasiness. So little did they fear for their 
safety that they neglected the most ordinary pre¬ 
cautions to insure it. Although the mission was, as 
we have said, two leagues from the presidio, it was 
built without the usual protection of a palisade 
wall. It was open to attack from every side. The 
savages had it in their power at any time to sur¬ 
round the mission and cut off communication with 
the garrison. Sentinels were not posted at night to 
sound an alarm in case of attack. This blind feeling 
of security was soon to cost them dearly. The mission 
was in charge of Fray Luis Jayme of Majorca, a 
man in whom intrepidity united with pious ardor. 
His companion and associate was Fray Vicente 
Fuster, a friar from the province of Andalusia. 


242 Jumpero Serra 

Staying with the padre were the young son and 
nephew of Lieutenant Ortega, the commander of 
the presidio . The guard consisted of three soldiers 
under the command of a corporal. A carpenter and 
two blacksmiths (of the latter one was confined to 
his bed) were also at this time residing in the 
mission. There were, therefore, not more than 
eleven persons of Spanish blood in the mission, two 
of whom were boys and one a sick man. Of all this 
the Indians were fully cognizant. 

But in the summer skies the Spaniards failed to 
perceive in the horizon the faint cloud, which more 
cautious men would have noted. A cheerful calm 
prevailed, a calm which in the hearts of the good 
friars changed to elation, when sixty Indians 
applied for the privilege of baptism. With great 
joy the padres performed the ceremony. The next 
day two neophytes — brothers — slipped unob¬ 
served from the mission. They did not return. 
When their absence was discovered, soldiers were 
promptly dispatched in search of them. The run¬ 
aways, however, could not be found. Now and 
again rumors reached the friars that the escaped 
neophytes were visiting all the rancherias for many 
leagues around, and were telling that the padres 
employed force to convert the Indians. Once it was 
reported that the brothers, speeding through the 
country, had reached the warlike tribes on the 
Colorado River. Yet this intelligence did not dis¬ 
turb the serenity of the Spaniards. The padres, 
indeed, grieved for the spiritual welfare of the run- 


Martyrdom at San Diego 243 

aways, but were far from suspecting any danger to 
themselves. 

On the night of November 4, the little mission 
was wrapped in peaceful slumber. No sentinel was 
on duty to hear the soft, sullen tread of savages 
approaching the settlement. If the neophytes in 
their huts were wakeful and alert that memorable 
night, they made no sound, and the slumbering 
soldiers were not aroused. Nearer and nearer came 
the stealthy footsteps. Had a Spaniard but raised 
his sleepy eyelids and peered an instant through 
the aperture that served as window in his room, he 
would have seen in the clear, dewless night the 
dusky forms of hundreds of naked savages, armed 
with bows, arrows, and wooden clubs, creeping 
silently toward the church. They were strangely 
intent on first satisfying a passion which throbbed 
as strongly within them as their hatred of the Span¬ 
iards — a passion for clothes and ornaments. They 
had learned — it may be from the neophytes — 
where the padres kept their robes. Silently, eagerly, 
they poured into the church, plundered it of the 
ornaments so painstakingly brought by the Fran¬ 
ciscans to California, then sought the sacristy, 
where they seized with childish delight the priestly 
cassocks and stoles. This successfully accomplished, 
they announced their presence with wild yells, 
which momentarily grew louder and fiercer, as they 
set fire to the church, the barracks, and all the 
buildings. 

The padres’ house, the smithy and also the gran- 


244 


Junipero Serra 

ary were of adobe with roofs of tule. The church 
and the barracks were constructed of light, inflam¬ 
mable wood. Before many minutes had passed 
every building in the mission was ablaze. In the 
ruddy light cast by the conflagration, the savages 
danced grotesquely, brandishing their missiles and 
shrieking demoniacally. It was a rude awakening 
to the peaceful repose of the padres and their small 
guard. Padre Fuster appears to have been among 
the first to be roused from sleep by the uproar. He 
took in the desperate situation at a glance. His 
first thought was for the two young boys in his 
charge. Quickly awaking them, he rushed with 
them across the court to the barracks, where the 
soldiers by this time were making frantic efforts to 
stem the onslaught of the howling, savage horde. 
The carpenter, Jose Urselino, who had been sleep¬ 
ing in the barracks, was valiantly assisting in the 
defense. He was soon mortally wounded, pierced 
by arrows. Falling, he exclaimed, Ha! Indio que 
me has muerto! Dios te lo perdone. (Oh! Indian 
who has killed me, may God forgive you!) 

Meanwhile in the smithy the sick blacksmith, 
roused from his fitful slumbers, seized a sword and 
rushed to the door. He was instantly greeted with 
a flight of arrows. He staggered back into the room. 
" Companero/ f he gasped, “ they have killed me,” 
and fell dead. His companion sprang behind the 
bellows in the smithy and from this barricade fired 
into the midst of the savages, instantly killing one 
of their number. In the confusion that followed he 



245 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

escaped and succeeded in joining Fuster and the 
soldiers. The little band of Spaniards were now all 
together; only Padre Jayme was missing. The 
friars slept in separate apartments. When Fray 
Luis Jayme saw in the red glow of the burning 
buildings the menacing figures of the savages he 
went bravely toward them. 

“ Amad a Dios, hijos ” (Love God, my children) 
he saluted them. The gentle words were scarcely 
spoken before the howling horde fell upon him, 
“ like wolves upon a lamb,” Palou said pityingly. 
They dragged him to the banks of an arroyo (dried 
creek) where they tore his gown from his back and, 
with clubs and stones, dealt brutal blows, on his 
face and denuded body. Then bruised, torn, and 
pierced with arrows, his bleeding corpse was 
thrown into the arroyo. So died the brave and 
gentle Majorcan friar, Luis Jayme, without a cry, 
without a moan, calling upon God to receive his 
soul.* 

While this ghastly tragedy was being enacted on 
the banks of the arroyo, the little band of refugees 
in the barracks was compelled by the fire now 
raging furiously, to seek shelter elsewhere. Taking 
the wounded carpenter with them, they fled to the 
padres’ house, which, though also in flames, was as 
yet only partially destroyed. Here they made 
another desperate stand, while Padre Fuster made 
an ineffectual attempt to find his companion. But 


* Palou, Vida, p. 179. 


246 


Junipero Serra 

the flames soon forced them to flee again. A small 
adobe structure which had been used as a kitchen 
had strangely enough escaped the general confla¬ 
gration, although it was roofed with boughs and 
dried leaves. The Spaniards succeeded in reaching 
this building. The fight raged with fury on both 
sides. 

Through a wide aperture in the adobe wall, the 
well-aimed arrows of the savages were shot with 
terrible effect. Before the Spaniards succeeded in 
barricading this opening with boxes and a huge 
copper kettle, every man among them was wounded. 
Corporal Rocha, however, contrived to keep up a 
steady firing. He appears to have been a man of 
ingenuity as well as bravery. He shouted com¬ 
mands in a stentorian voice to imaginary combat¬ 
ants that the savages might not become cognizant 
of their desperate situation, or divine that he alone 
was fighting them. The blacksmith and one or two 
of the soldiers were able to assist him by rapidly 
loading and reloading the muskets, which they 
passed to him, while he fired with deadly aim into 
the ranks of the enemy. The savages shot burning 
arrows on to the inflammable roof of the building. 
The wounded men strained their feeble strength to 
the utmost in their efforts to extinguish the flames 
and ward off the fiery missiles. A sack containing 
fifty pounds of gunpowder lay on the floor beside 
them. In this desperate situation Padre Fuster 
found a hazardous expedient. He threw himself, 
full length, on the sack and protected it with his 


Martyrdom at San Diego 247 

body from the burning brands falling thickly 
about, unaware for a time of a wound received by 
a blow from a piece of adobe. 

In this manner, the priest, boys, soldiers, and 
artisans, all wounded, some fatally, passed the long 
hours before dawn. The wild battle cry of the 
savages, the hissing of their flying arrows, the sharp 
rattle of Corporal Rocha’s muskets, the steady shout 
of his commands to imaginary combatants, the 
groans of the wounded and the dying, all mingled 
together that November night in 1775 in the burn¬ 
ing San Diego mission. Whether the Indians grew 
weary with encountering such firm resistance, or 
whether the neophytes, who now appeared for the 
first time, really fought them and forced them to 
disperse, as they afterward claimed to have done, 
is not certain. But when the sun rose over the 
ruined mission the next morning the savages were 
gone, and the neophytes, with loud lamentations, 
flocked to the little building where the Spaniards 
were barricaded. They protested their innocence 
in connection with the terrible events of the night 
and evinced the utmost anxiety as to the fate of 
Padre Jayme. The soldiers discredited both their 
story and their anxiety, but Fuster, believing firmly 
in their innocence, sent them to search for Jayme. 
They found his mangled body in the arroyo and 
bore it back to the mission. When the Spaniards 
heard their cries and lamentations, they knew what 
fate had overtaken the brave priest. 

Padre Fuster, with pale, drawn face, went out to 


248 


Jumpero Serra 

meet them. The neophytes stopped before him and 
laid their ghastly burden on the ground. When 
he looked upon the torn, crushed corpse of his 
brother friar, the face bruised and battered beyond 
recognition, Fuster was at first transfixed with 
horror; then he sobbed aloud, the native converts 
joining in his lamentation. 

A few hours later a solemn procession passed 
out from the ruined mission toward the fort. Padre 
Fuster was leading; pale and grief-stricken he 
showed to the full the grim experience of the 
night. Behind him came the neophytes, bearing 
upon hastily constructed tapestles — Indian stretch¬ 
ers — the wounded, the charred body of the black¬ 
smith and the mutilated remains of their gentle 
friend and teacher, Fray Luis Jayme. The bright 
November sun shone down upon them as they 
slowly took their way to the presidio, whispering 
as they went, looking to the right and to the left in 
fearful expectation that the savages might come 
upon them again. In the fort none had heard of the 
night’s tragedy. The little garrison had been 
allowed to slumber undisturbed. It was afterwards 
ascertained that the savages had organized them¬ 
selves into two detachments and had planned to 
attack garrison and mission simultaneously. But 
the assault on the mission was begun prematurely 
and the Indians lurking near the presidio, waiting 
for the signal of attack, became alarmed lest some 
watchful sentinel, seeing the light of the burning 
buildings, should arouse the sleeping garrison, and 


249 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

so discover their presence. They hurried off and 
joined the savages in the mission. 

The next day Padre Fuster read the burial service 
over the dead. Couriers were at once despatched 
with tidings of the tragedy to Fray Junipero and 
Rivera. The latter was urged speedily to send 
reinforcements. Taking counsel of their fears, the 
little garrison prepared for a vigorous defense in 
the event of an attack. They had ground for their 
fear, for rumors were afloat too numerous and per¬ 
sistent to be discredited, that the savages had dis¬ 
appeared only to return in augmented numbers to 
assault the presidio . 

More than a month had elapsed since the disaster 
to the mission, when the couriers reached Mon¬ 
terey. Traveling was slow through the picturesque 
California wilderness. Late one December evening 
the commandant was startled out of his repose by 
the announcement that messengers from the south 
desired speech with him. They were instantly 
admitted to his presence where they gave a detailed 
account of the San Dieguenos’ revolt and delivered 
Fuster’s letters, substantiating their terrible tale. 
Rivera ordered his horse saddled, and in spite of 
the lateness of the hour galloped over the hills to 
the San Carlos mission. 

The surprise of Junipero and Palou, when the 
commandant suddenly appeared before them, 
speedily changed to dismay on realizing from his 
disturbed countenance that he was the bearer of 
evil news. Yet when he poured out the tale of the 


250 


Junipero Serra 

revolt, of the destruction of the mission, and of 
Padre Jayme’s martyrdom, Junipero exclaimed 
almost exultingly: “ God be thanked, now the soil 
is watered, now will the reduction of the San 
Dieguenos be complete.” * In his mind there was 
no doubt that Jayme had died the most enviable of 
all deaths — that of martyrdom. It was not even 
necessary to say masses for his departed spirit. But 
that due honor be paid to the martyred brother, 
and in fulfillment of the promise made when the 
missionaries first came to California, Junipero 
ordered twenty masses said in all the missions for 
the repose of the dead friar’s soul. 

In the meanwhile Rivera had completed his 
traveling prepartions. Junipero was anxious to 
accompany him, but the commandant, fearing the 
old man’s feebleness would retard the speed of the 
journey, frankly told him so and set off alone with 
his soldiers. The president’s principal object in 
desiring to go with Rivera was to be on the spot 
to intercede for the Indians. He feared they would 
be dealt with too severely. His own policy was one 
of kindness. In his eyes the savages were little more 
than children, and their crimes committed in 
ignorance of their enormity. That these views were 
not shared by the military authorities in California, 
or even by all the Franciscans, he well knew. He 
wrote the friars minute directions as to the course 
he wished them to pursue. He also wrote to the 


* Palou, Vida, p. 184. 


251 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

guardian of San Fernando, enclosing the letters that 
he had received from Fuster. Then he wrote to the 
viceroy. 

After giving him a clear account of the events, 
he added that he had no fear the missionaries would 
lose enthusiasm in their work; they would, on the 
contrary, he felt convinced, be envious of the happy 
death that had befallen their brother and compan¬ 
ion. His main anxieties incident to the revolt were 
due to the consequences which might arise if the 
“ poor, ignorant creatures ” were too harshly pun¬ 
ished. But knowing well his excellency’s great 
clemency he hoped that he would exercise it for 
the benefit of the Indians who had participated in 
the murder of Padre jayme. The deed was done 
no doubt through ignorance of its enormity and 
through the instigation of the Evil One. Such 
clemency would do much towards attracting them 
to the good and benign Catholic religion. He 
further expressed confidence that the fervent 
Catholic zeal of His Excellency would hasten the 
rebuilding of the San Diego mission and the found¬ 
ing of San Juan Capristrano. In order to prevent a 
repetition of similar disasters, he would suggest 
augmenting the mission guards. When the Indians 
saw the increased force for defense they would 
restrain themselves, and their reduction and eternal 
salvation would thereby be accomplished peace¬ 
fully.* 


Palou, Vida, pp. 185, 186. 


252 


Jumpero Serra 


This letter was eminently characteristic of Jum- 
pcro and shows clearly his attitude toward the 
Indians, an attitude full of humanity, love, and 
gentleness. His letter had to be carried overland to 
Baja California and from there by boat and courier 
to Mexico. Three months at least would elapse 
before it could reach its destination, and as many 
more ere Junipero would receive the reply of the 
viceroy. 

The president, in the meanwhile, saw small 
chance of having his policies adopted by Rivera. 
That officer stopped at San Antonio and San Luis 
Obispo on his way south. The general feeling of 
uneasiness which existed in the missions determined 
the commandant to leave some of the soldiers he had 
brought with him to increase the guards. When 
he arrived at San Gabriel he was fortunate enough 
to meet Anza with his party of colonists destined 
for San Francisco. Anza had been promoted to the 
rank of lieutenant colonel. He had again success¬ 
fully crossed the great desert; on this occasion with 
women and children in his caravan; eight of the 
latter had been born on the journey. His march had 
been an extremely difficult one. That he accom¬ 
plished it without noteworthy mishap is additional 
evidence of his skill as a leader. 

Rivera and Anza held a consultation. 



agreed on the advisability of postponing tempo¬ 
rarily the affairs of the colonists. It was decided to 
leave the families at San Gabriel while the lieuten¬ 
ant colonel with part of his troops accompanied 


253 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

Rivera to San Diego, to assist him in protecting the 
presidio and in punishing the Indians. Accordingly 
the next day the combined forces left San Gabriel. 
After four days of forced marching they reached 
San Diego. They were received with acclamations 
of delight by the weary little band of Spaniards in 
the presidio. Lieutenant Ortega, in particular, felt 
an infinite relief from his long-continued anxiety 
of guarding a garrison with a handful of soldiers. 
The savages, however, made no attack upon the 
presidio, and if they had contemplated doing so, 
the arrival of strong reinforcements was a sufficient 
incentive to alter their plans. 

The course which Rivera now pursued met with 
Anza’s disapproval, even with his contempt. He 
had come prepared for a short and vigorous cam¬ 
paign against the Indians which would have the 
result of intimidating them and forestalling future 
attempts at murder and pillage. Rivera possessed 
neither the sagacity nor energy of his brother 
officer, nor the human clemency which distin¬ 
guished Fray Junipero. He chose to follow a 
course utterly at variance with the policy of both 
men. He began a series of investigations by making 
raids on neighboring rancherias, capturing the 
chieftains, and compelling them to testify by means 
of severe floggings after which they were either 
liberated or imprisoned. A period of inaction suc¬ 
ceeded, then the raids were once more begun. Such 
a course accomplished nothing, unless it was to 
increase the hostility of the Indians without the 


254 


Junipero Serra 

good effect of intimidating them. Thoroughly dis¬ 
gusted, Anza determined to return to San Gabriel 
and conclude the business upon which he had come 
to California. He was hastened in this decision by 
the arrival of couriers bearing letters from the San 
Gabriel padres, informing him they could no longer 
supply food to his colonists, except to the injury of 
their neophytes. This news afforded him an 
excellent opportunity of leaving without a serious 
break with Rivera. The month he had spent with 
the vacillating commandant had sorely tried his 
patience. Leaving ten of his men to assist the 
presidio force, he joyfully turned his back on San 
Diego, after having obtained from Rivera a promise 
that the establishments in San Francisco should not 
be delayed more than two months. A few days 
later he was greeting his little army of colonists 
encamped in San Gabriel. 

The colonists were overjoyed at the return of 
their leader. They were anxious to push on to 
their destination, to the shores of the great San 
Francisco Bay, where they were to make their 
homes and form the garrison of the new presidio, 
as well as the guard for the new missions. Prepara¬ 
tions were at once begun for breaking camp and 
before long all was in readiness for the journey. 

The colonists numbered about two hundred, in¬ 
cluding the members of their families. This was 
the first introduction of Spanish women in Alta 
California. Their presence was hailed with delight 
by the soldiers of the escolta, many of whom had 



SERRA MONUMENT AT SAN FRANCISCO 



















255 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

not seen a woman — other than the uncouth Indian 
—for full seven years. 

It was an imposing cavalcade that Anza headed 
one bright morning in February from the San 
Gabriel mission. The long column consisted of the 
officer’s private escort, the chaplain of the expedi¬ 
tion, Padre Font, the soldiers and settlers with 
their women and children, the pack animals and 
some seven hundred head of horses, mules, and 
cattle. 

Anza left twelve men with their families to aug¬ 
ment the mission guard, a precaution deemed neces¬ 
sary in view of the recent disturbances in San 
Diego. The travelers passed down to the seashore, 
which they followed a certain distance. They 
crossed numerous rivers, so swollen from heavy 
rains that fording them was difficult, while the 
route they had to traverse was in many places well- 
nigh impassable, the train more than once becom¬ 
ing embedded in the deep mire. This was especially 
the case as the travelers approached San Luis 
Obispo. The mules and horses had to be unloaded 
and the women, good-humored and bedaubed with 
mud, had to wade as best they could through the 
slimy, oozy sediment, while the men put forth all 
their efforts to urge the weary animals onward. 

They rested for a brief season in the mission, 
then pushed on again, crossing the mountains and 
more turbulent, swollen streams, till they reached 
San Antonio. Here the friars greeted them hospit¬ 
ably and ordered two fat hogs slaughtered to feast 


256 


Jumpero Serra 

upon, and while their guests ate, they listened to 
the news Anza had to give of affairs in San Diego, 
since the revolt. Finally, seventeen days after leav¬ 
ing San Gabriel, the expedition arrived at Mon¬ 
terey. In the long journey, lasting ninety-eight days 
from Sonora to California, and in the subsequent 
shorter journey from San Gabriel, Lieutenant 
Colonel Anza had led his party of men, women, and 
children safely and without mishap to Monterey, 
almost within sight of their destination. It was a 
wonderful achievement and one the gallant officer 
might well have been proud of. 

The arrival of the colonists created a pleasant 
excitement in the presidio where officers and 
soldiers, like all their comrades in California, saw 
Indians more often than white men and had never 
a glimpse of a white woman. Even the sentinels 
who tramped back and forth on their interminable 
beat, craned their necks and listened delightedly to 
the babble of sound that came to them. From 
Carmel Fray Jumpero hurried over to greet the 
newcomers, and with him came the padres Crespi 
and Palou. After a thanksgiving service, Anza 
gladly accepted Junipero’s invitation to stay at 
San Carlos pending his return south. The accom¬ 
modations in the presidio were of the meanest and 
offered few if any comforts. Anza’s health showed 
the effects of long continued bodily fatigue; no 
sooner was he installed in the mission than he was 
seized with a painful illness which confined him 
for the space of a week or more to his bed. While 


257 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

he was still in this deplorable condition, his lieu¬ 
tenant, Morago, came over from Monterey to see 
him. He brought dispatches from Rivera, the con¬ 
tents of which roused in the sick man the deepest 
indignation. The commandant, regardless of his 
promise that the San Francisco settlements should 
be founded within the next two months, had sent 
orders that the colonists should build houses for 
themselves at Monterey, as a year or more would 
elapse before they could establish themselves in 
their permanent home on the shores of the great 
northern bay. Morago reported that the people 
were muy desconsolada (very disconsolate) over 
this long postponement. 

Calling for his writing materials, Anza promptly 
wrote to Rivera, reminding him of the agreement 
between them regarding the establishment of the 
colonists. He said that if the Sehor Commandante 
found himself unable to leave San Diego at the 
present time, he had only to permit Morago to 
attend to the business of founding the San Fran¬ 
cisco settlements, that he was a man whom he might 
implicitly trust to manage the business successfully; 
or if the Sehor Commandante objected to this 
arrangement, he, Anza, would gladly delay his 
departure and attend to the matter himself. This 
letter was dispatched by the same courier who had 
brought Rivera’s orders to Monterey. 

A week later, Anza, though still suffering from 
his recent serious illness, in spite of the kindly 
remonstrances of Junipero, left the mission to visit 





258 


Junipero Serra 

in person the great San Francisco harbor, for the 
purpose of surveying a suitable site for the new 
settlements. He confidently expected to find 
Rivera’s answer to his letter awaiting him on his 
return from this trip.* 

Before he left, he held long conferences with 
Junipero, dealing with the affairs of the province. 
It was through Anza that the president received 
his first intimation of Rivera’s punitive measures 
in the south. Widely as Junipero and Anza differed 
in their policies towards the San Diego Indians, 
they agreed in this, that both favored a prompt 
cessation of hostilities; Junipero, because they 
should never have commenced; and Anza, because 
they should have been short, sharp, and decisive. 
Alive to the peril of Rivera’s course, Junipero wrote 
urging him to deal leniently with the Indians, and 
to suspend hostilities which were doing more harm 
than good. He added that though the living padres 
should be protected “ as the apple of God’s eye,” 
the dead padre should be left “ to enjoy God ” and 
thus good be returned for evil. But the command¬ 
ant was not disposed to take priestly advice. He 
continued with the raids, the captures, the floggings, 
the imprisonments, in short, with a petty, teasing 
sort of persecution which did not reach the dignity 
of warfare. He vouchsafed not the least attention 
to Anza’s letters and when that officer returned 
from his exploration of San Francisco he found to 


* Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 141. 





259 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

his mortification that his letter had been ignored. 
It soon became evident that nothing could be done 
with Rivera. Anza became more and more im¬ 
patient, and Junipero grew ever more anxious. 
Progress in California was at a standstill, while 
her military ruler pursued a course which mater¬ 
ially hindered, rather than helped, the conquest. 

An event now occurred which precipitated a 
rupture between Rivera and the missionaries. One 
of the ringleaders of the revolt, an escaped neo¬ 
phyte, returned apparently repentant for his share 
in that November night’s tragedy. In cases of 
capital crime the military authorities had jurisdic¬ 
tion in California. This the friars understood per¬ 
fectly and so did the wily neophyte, for though he 
returned voluntarily to the presidio he took the 
precaution of seeking refuge in the church, where 
neither civil nor military law could molest him. 
The privilege of the sanctuary which Protestant 
England under James I abolished was still in force 
in the eighteenth century in most Catholic countries, 
and the savage on the distant shores of the Pacific, 
if he professed Christianity, was entitled to the 
same protection accorded by the church to the 
highest nobleman in the domain of his most 
Catholic Majesty, Carlos III. So it happened that 
when Rivera announced his determination of seiz¬ 
ing the fugitive, the padres were one in sternly 
opposing him. 

In extenuation of his purposed act, he reminded 
the friars that the building had been originally 


262 Jumpero Serra 

He had passed the mission San Luis Obispo on 
his northward journey, lost, as lately was habitual 
to him, in gloomy revery, when he was roused from 
his abstraction by the distant, rythmetical sound of 
galloping horses’ hoofs. Now horses in Califor¬ 
nia were of Spanish importation and hitherto 
unknown to the savages in the country, therefore, 
Rivera knew that one of two things alone could 
explain their presence in the wilderness, either 
escaping neophytes had stolen horses and were mak¬ 
ing off with their booty — a theft not so uncommon 
as the Spaniards could have wished — or soldiers, 
sent out as couriers, were on the trail and would 
soon appear. This last proved to be the case. 
Before long, through the lush leafage of the spring 
foliage, five horsemen made their appearance. 
They were privates in command of a sergeant, from 
the Monterey presidio. Rivera questioned them as 
to the meaning of their presence so far from the 
post. The sergeant replied that he was the bearer 
of important letters from Colonel Anza for the 
commandant. Not in the least interested in any 
affairs at that moment, except those immediately 
pertaining to himself, Rivera refused to accept the 
letters and abruptly dismissed the men, command¬ 
ing them to fall to the rear and not to join his 
party.* This strange conduct so amazed the ser- 

* Between the two missions San Antonio and San 
Luis, the sergeant Gongora met his captain D. Fer¬ 
nando, who asked him where he was going, and he re- 


263 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

geant that he entertained fears of his command¬ 
ing officer’s sanity and later expressed these fears 
to Colonel Anza. In the meantime he withdrew to 
the rear of the commandant’s escort, taking care 
to keep out of his sight. A few days later, Rivera 
suddenly summoned the man into his presence and 
demanded the letters, only, however, to throw them 
aside without glancing at their contents or so much 
as breaking their seals. 

In these letters Anza had again urged the com¬ 
mandant to give his attention to the matter of the 
San Francisco establishments, in order that the 
colonists could settle in their permanent homes 
within a reasonable length of time; he also 
announced his own departure from Monterey and 
requested Rivera to meet him at San Gabriel to 
discuss “ business of importance.” As we have 
seen, Rivera tossed the letters aside, unread, but, 
probably divining their contents, he wrote an 
answer, which he gave to the sergeant, ordering 
him to deliver it speedily to Colonel Anza. Put¬ 
ting spurs to his horse and followed by his men, 
the sergeant rode madly towards Monterey. 
Within twenty leagues of the presidio he came 
upon Anza himself, returning south accompanied 

plied, towards San Diego to deliver to his honor this 
letter. Don Fernando refused to receive the letter 
although he (the sergeant) told him it was from the 
lieutenant colonel; instead he ordered him to fall to the 
rear and that neither he or his soldiers were to join his 
escort.— Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 145. 



264 


Junipero Serra 

by his escort. He had just bidden farewell to the 
colonists, who, with their wives and families, had 
tearfully watched him depart. Anza also had been 
deeply affected as he waved them a last good-by, 
and declared that it was the saddest moment he had 
experienced since leaving Sonora. 

When he met the sergeant and learned that 
Rivera was hurrying towards Monterey, he was at 
first profoundly pleased, believing that the com¬ 
mandant could have but one object in coming 
north; namely, to establish the new settlements at 
San Francisco. However, he was soon disabused of 
this belief when the sergeant, requesting a few 
moments’ private conversation, gave him Rivera’s 
letter and stated his belief that the writer was not in 
his right mind, that he had in fact gone utterly daft. 
Anza gave small heed to these confidences. He 
immediately tore open and read the letter; it con¬ 
tained nothing more than a curt refusal to permit 
the founding of the San Francisco settlements. 

Anza’s indignation was extreme, the more so as 
his request for a consultation at San Gabriel had 
been entirely ignored. The two officers passed one 
another on the road. They exchanged the ordi¬ 
nary salutations of the day, then Rivera, without 
further speech than a short adios calmly rode on. 
This behavior was more than Anza could tolerate 
in silence. 

“ Your reply to my letters may be sent to Mexico 
or wherever you like,” he called after him furi¬ 
ously. 


Martyrdom at San Diego 265 

“ ’ T is well,” replied Rivera over his shoulder, 
with gloomy stateliness. 

It was an exasperating reply to a man who has 
just succeeded in losing his temper. Anza deter¬ 
mined to report the whole matter to the viceroy. 
He could gain nothing by remaining longer in Cal¬ 
ifornia. He reluctantly decided to return to Mex¬ 
ico without delay. He had been extremely 
unwilling to leave the country before seeing his 
colonists settled in their new homes; yet he was 
obliged to do that very thing. An attachment had 
sprung up between the commander and his people. 
He had safely led them thousands of miles over a 
country practically unexplored, through vast 
stretches of dreary desert. He had faced dangers 
and privations with them; had been patient and 
considerate with their women and children, and 
earned for himself the highest reward a leader can 
receive from his followers, namely their affection 
and respect. Nevertheless, he felt that he had 
failed them because of his inability to bring them 
to their final destination on the shores of the great 
San Francisco Bay. But he was not invested with 
authority sufficient to overrule the decree of the 
military governor of California. 

Rivera continued his journey to Monterey. 
When he arrived he sent word to Junipero that he 
had letters for him which he desired to deliver per¬ 
sonally, but that illness prevented his going to San 
Carlos. Junipero was in complete ignorance of 
the recent events which had taken place in San 




266 Junipero Serra 

Diego. He hastened to Monterey. He found 
Rivera’s “ illness ” nothing more serious than a 
slight pain in the leg. He also found his letters 
broken open, including the one from Padre Fuster. 
He, however, accepted the commandant’s explana¬ 
tion that the seal had been broken inadvertently and 
that the letters had not been read. Rivera then 
poured out the story of his excommunication and 
the causes leading to it. But when he concluded 
with a request for immediate absolution Junipero 
told him that in so serious a matter he would have 
to consult with his brother friars. Accordingly, 
he took leave of Rivera and returned to his mission 
on the shores of the blue Carmel Bay. Here he 
summoned Palou and Crespi into his cell and laid 
the matter before them. After taking counsel 
together, the three friars decided that Rivera could 
obtain absolution only by returning the San Diego 
neophyte to the sanctuary from which he had forci¬ 
bly removed him. This decision was forwarded 
to the commandant, who, without further attempt 
to remove the ban placed upon him, and without 
the least intention of yielding to the priests’ 
demands regarding the Indian culprit, prepared to 
return south. As on a former occasion, Junipero 
asked permission to accompany him. It is not 
strange that he again on this occasion was refused. 

Rivera had tarried just three days in Monterey. 
He traveled rapidly, hoping to overtake Anza on 
the road. The day previous to his departure he had 
sent couriers in hot haste after the irate colonel, 




267 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

with a letter announcing his own immediate return 
south, apologizing for his past incivility, excusing 
his conduct on the score of ill health, and express¬ 
ing the hope that Anza would await his arrival in 
order to hold the consultation he had previously 
requested. 

Anza received this letter while stopping over¬ 
night at the mission, San Luis Obispo. His anger 
had not yet had time to cool; therefore, while he 
consented to await Rivera’s coming, he flatly 
declined to give him a personal interview, and sent 
word to the commandant that all communication 
between them must be in writing, adding that even 
this concession he was induced to make solely in the 
interests of the province. San Gabriel was selected 
as the rendezvous. 

The two officers arrived at the mission within a 
few days of one another. True to his determina¬ 
tion, Anza refused to meet the commandant. Sev¬ 
eral letters were exchanged, in one of which Anza 
enclosed a description of the site he had selected 
for the San Francisco settlements and a map of the 
survey he had made. His business with Rivera he 
then considered concluded. Accordingly, he sent 
that officer word that he was on the eve of resuming 
his journey to Sonora, but that if Rivera had reports 
to forward to the viceroy, he would take them and 
would wait three days in the mission to accord him 
an opportunity to write them. Anza was well 
aware that in any communication which Rivera 
might choose to send to the viceroy, he could not 





268 


Jumpero Serra 

well avoid mentioning so important a matter as the 
affairs of the colonists and the postponement of 
their establishment at San Francisco; and the indig¬ 
nant colonel was not without a secret malicious 
satisfaction in the conviction that Rivera’s expla¬ 
nations, whatever they might be, would fail to meet 
with the viceroy’s approbation. 

But the commandant politely declined to avail 
himself of Anza’s offer to wait for his reports, stat¬ 
ing he could send them later by couriers who would 
have no difficulty in overtaking the travelers on the 
road. 

Anza indeed, had not journeyed far when couri¬ 
ers caught up with him, bringing, not dispatches 
for the viceroy, but a letter addressed to the guard¬ 
ian of San Francisco College and one for Anza, 
himself, in which Rivera said he would esteem it 
a favor if Anza would present the writer’s excuses 
to the viceroy for not forwarding a report at this 
time, but that he “ lacked a paper connected with 
the affair of a criminal who had taken refuge in 
a place where mass is said in San Diego.” * 

It is clear from this that the poor commandant 
was still unable to concentrate his perturbed mind 
on any subject not dealing with his excommunica¬ 
tion. But Anza had reached the limit of his 
patience, and this final complete ignoring of the 
important business which had brought him to Cal¬ 
ifornia fanned the flames of his anger afresh. He 


* Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 157. 


269 


Martyrdom at San Diego 

returned both letters to Rivera, with the caustic 
message that “ he was not the mail,” (que el no era 
correo) and that he would only carry letters refer- 
ing to the founding of San Francisco.* 

Rivera received this reply without comment and 
set out for San Diego. Whether or not he suddenly 
became uneasy in reflecting on the report Anza 
would make to the viceroy, or whether he put forth 
an earnest effort to finally forget his private affairs 
and take up those of the province he was command¬ 
ing, is uncertain, but at all events he hurriedly sent 
an order to Monterey, authorizing the immediate 
establishment of the San Francisco presidio. But 
at the same time his hostility towards the friars who 
had robbed him of his peace of mind was made suf¬ 
ficiently manifest by prohibiting the founding of 
the San Francisco mission. He then took up again 
his useless succession of petty punitive expeditions 
against the savages. It was generally believed by the 
soldiers that the commandant’s mind had become 
unbalanced. Whether the missionaries shared this 
belief is not apparent, but Colonel Anza, before 
leaving California, did not hesitate to express his 
opinion that Captain Rivera y Moncada was 
afflicted not with “ madness ” but with a disposi¬ 
tion in which amiability and courtesy were con¬ 
spicuously absent. It had required no small degree 
of tact on the part of Junipero to maintain peaceful 
relations with Rivera. In this the president had 


* Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 157. 







270 


Junipero Serra 

been entirely successful until he refused Rivera’s 
request for absolution. He could hope nothing now 
from the gloomy commandant who seized every 
opportunity of thwarting him in his most cherished 
plans. There was no authority within several thou¬ 
sand miles to appeal to against his decisions. 

Although the order which postponed indefinitely 
the founding of the San Francisco mission was a 
great disappointment to Junipero, it was less bitter 
than Rivera’s absolute refusal to permit the 
rebuilding of the ruined San Diego mission. He 
was, however, for the present obliged to acquiesce 
in both decisions. He took the precaution of send¬ 
ing Palou with the colonists to San Francisco, that 
he might be on hand to act promptly the instant 
permission was given to found the northern mis¬ 
sion. He himself determined to go to San Diego 
and attempt the difficult task of persuading the 
recalcitrant commander to allow the restoration 
of Alta California’s first mission. But in the mean¬ 
while he was forced to await an opportunity of 
leaving. The regulations did not permit a friar 
to journey alone through long stretches of country 
populated with savages and Fray Junipero had 
been unable to obtain from Rivera an escort. 
Finally the transport San Antonio arrived in port. 
After discharging her cargo of supplies she 
returned to San Bias via San Diego, the last day of 
June. Junipero promptly availed himself of this 
chance; he embarked on board the vessel and eleven 
days later was in San Diego. 


CHAPTER XV 
ENCOURAGEMENTS 


F RAY JUNIPERO was not long in deciding 
on the course he would take. Three padres 
were in the San Diego presidio. These were Fus- 
ter, the surviving minister of the ruined mission, 
the scholarly Lasuen, and one Santa Maria. Both 
Lasuen and Santa Maria had been detailed for the 
San Capistrano mission. From these friars Juni- 
pero learned that Rivera had ceased his punitive 
expeditions, that the Indians were tranquil, that 
the soldiers were lounging in the presidio with 
nothing to do, and that in spite of these facts work 
on the restoration of the ruined mission was not 
begun or even contemplated by the commandant. 
Junipero was prepared for exactly these conditions. 
The moment for vigorous independent action, had 
now arrived. He knew the transport was to remain 
in port until October. He sought Don Diego Cho- 
quet, the commander of the San Antonio, and 
asked him if he would permit his mariners to help 
in restoring “ the mission of the saint of his own 
name.” The request was cleverly worded and Don 
Diego was not proof against the old man’s diplo¬ 
macy. His reply was that of a true caballero, for 


272 


Junipero Serra 

he not only agreed to let his sailors work, but 
offered his own services as well. 

A note was sent to Rivera’s quarters, informing 
him of the offer and requesting a guard to protect 
the sailors while they worked. Rivera, having no 
excuse for refusing either the proffered help or 
the guard, was forced to accept the one and supply 
the other. Accordingly, to the delight of Fray 
Junipero, the restoration of the San Diego mission 
was commenced. Sailors and neophytes labored 
with a good will under the supervision of the San 
Antonio's commander and that of the enthusiastic 
padre. Stones were gathered, adobe bricks made 
and foundations dug. The work progressed 
rapidly. It was confidently expected that before 
the sailing of the transport, Don Diego’s mariners 
would have the restoration completed. 

Two weeks passed. One morning when Juni¬ 
pero was detained at the presidio, Rivera rode out 
to the mission. He called Choquet aside and told 
him of a report which had reached him that the 
savages were planning an attack on the mission 
and therefore he intended to withdraw the guard. 
He advised Choquet to take the same precaution¬ 
ary measures with his sailors. The sea captain 
argued and protested in vain. Rivera was obsti¬ 
nately determined to withdraw the guard, although 
admitting that he had made no attempt to investi¬ 
gate the truth of the report, and also that a similar 
rumor had only quite recently been altogether dis¬ 
proved by one of his sergeants. Choquet, thor- 


273 


Encouragements 

oughly disgusted, was nevertheless obliged to yield 
to the commandant’s wishes. It appears that 
Rivera had some compunction about informing 
Junipero of the orders he had issued, for he begged 
Choquet to attend to this part of the business for 
him. Don Diego consented but, at the same time 
expressed his opinion of the commandant’s action in 
no very flattering terms.* Junipero was almost 
heart-broken. He had encountered with courage 
and patience every obstacle placed in his way in the 
founding of new missions, but to lose one already 
founded was a blow he with difficulty could bear. 
The friars appointed to administer the San Diego 
and San Capristrano missions were discouraged; 
they requested permission to return to their college 
in Mexico. If they were not to be allowed to pur¬ 
sue their work of Christianizing and civilizing the 
Indians they argued, why should they remain in 
California? 

In the midst of these distressing conditions, news 
reached the little fort that a company of soldiers — 
twenty-five in number — commanded by a ser¬ 
geant, was marching northward from Baja Cali¬ 
fornia and was already within a few days journey 
of San Diego. Junipero awaited eagerly the 
arrival of this company. He was convinced that 

* With all the armed force which is here, there is no 
danger. You would be more respected, if imagining 
danger, you increased the guard, instead of withdrawing 
it and bringing shame upon the Spanish arms.— Palou, 
Vida, p. 193. 




274 


Junipero Serra 

the soldiers were the guards for the new missions. 
His enthusiasm, however, was somewhat held in 
check by Rivera’s equally confident belief that the 
men were sent to augment the presidio forces. As 
the days slowly passed Junipero’s anxiety became 
intense. It would appear as if San Diego was 
destined to be the place where the father of the 
California missions was to experience his greatest 
anxieties. Here he had heard Portola announce 
the abandonment of California; it was here Fages 
had definitely prohibited the founding of more 
missions; it was here rumors had reached him of 
the abolishment of the San Bias naval station; it 
was here the Indians had revolted; and it was here 
where he now waited for the coming of the soldiers, 
whose orders would either strengthen or dash his 
hopes for the future of the conquest. Would the 
viceroy’s instructions uphold Rivera’s dilatory, 
defensive policy? Or would they favor Junipero’s 
policy — which was to advance, ever advance, 
peaceably when possible (and his close study of 
the California Indian caused him to believe this 
was always possible), or if not, why then aggress¬ 
ively? 

There was force and character in the president’s 
chosen course. He did not shun responsibility, he 
was not valiant in words and weak in deeds, but was 
energetic, efficient, even audacious, where audacity 
was necessary to his purpose. 

Rivera, on the contrary, was more weak than 
wise, more cautious than vigorous, more domineer- 


275 


Encouragements 

ing than discriminating. Between the two men 
there was mutual and courtly distrust. Both had 
written to the viceroy after the San Diego disaster; 
both had strongly expressed their opinions as to 
the best course to pursue, and both were now wait¬ 
ing for replies to their letters, the one feverishly, 
excited and anxious, every fiber in his small over¬ 
worked, delicate body tingling with a nervousness 
ill-concealed; the other, taciturn, gloomy, but con¬ 
fident that his judgment would be the one accepted. 
The viceroy’s decision would be momentous to the 
Spaniard’s progress in California, both in its 
3 immediate and more remote results. They had not 
long to wait. Dust-covered, grimy with heat and 
perspiration, the soldiers arrived in the fort and 
their sergeant delivered the viceroy’s dispatches 
to Rivera and Junipero. It will be remembered 
that in the president’s letter to the viceroy he had 
begged his intercession in behalf of the Indian’s 
culprits, and also had asked that the ruined San 
Diego mission be restored and San Juan Capistrano 
founded. 

Viceroy Bucareli apparently had little difficulty 
in making up his mind as to the justice and wisdom 
of these requests. In his letters he expressed him¬ 
self as being in sympathy with Fray Jumpero’s 
“ prudent and Christian ” policy of kindness 
towards the Indian culprits, and he believed with 
His Reverence that such a policy would be more 
efficacious in pacifying and subduing the savages, 
than punitive measures would be. He had written 


276 


Jumpero Serra 

to this effect to the Commandant D. Fernando 
Rivera y Moncada and had instructed him to act 
accordingly. He had also reminded that officer 
that the most important business now was building 
anew the San Diego mission and establishing San 
Juan Capistrano. He finally assured His Rever¬ 
ence that he, El Baylio Frey D. Antonio Bucareli 
y Ursua, was disposed to grant him all possible aid 
in furthering his pious work. 

Junipero was almost beside himself with joy. 
One was always conscious of the deep emotional 
feeling of the man; whatever he thought and felt, 
he expressed openly. It was as if he turned himself 
inside out for the gaze of others. But we may add 
that few men could afford so well to expose their 
inner selves to public comment and inspection, as 
Fray Junipero Serra. He now had the church bells 
rung and chanted a Te Deum in thanksgiving. 
Rivera, in the meanwhile, had little cause for rejoic¬ 
ing; he found himself in the awkward position of 
being compelled to countermand his own orders. 
The Indians he had captured, who were still in dur¬ 
ance pending their disposition to San Bias, whither 
Rivera intended sending them, were liberated. 
Work on the mission was resumed; preparations 
were made for the founding of San Juan 
Capistrano. 

Nor was this all. In the viceroy’s letter to Rivera 
which was written before Anza’s report reached 
the capital, he had commented on the San Fran¬ 
cisco presidio and mission as if both had long since 


277 


Encouragements 

been established. This caused the commandant to 
consider it expedient to hurry north and attend to 
that long-delayed matter. Junipero remained in 
San Diego to see work on the ruined mission well 
under way and to replace, as far as possible, the 
lost registers containing the lists of baptisms, mar¬ 
riages, and deaths. He added to these entries 
a detailed account of the happenings at San 
Diego during his sojourn there. These duties 
accomplished, he set forth, late in October, for San 
Juan Capistrano, accompanied by a brother friar, 
a guard, and several pack mules carrying the usual 
accessories necessary to establishing a mission. It 
was on a soft November day — the first of the 
month — when the buried bells were dug up and 
set a-pealing, and Junipero, “ tremulous with joy,” 
said mass among the fragrance of belated summer 
flowers and the purple fruit of wild-grape vines. 
So was founded San Juan Capistrano, the seventh 
mission in Alta California, the seventh link in that 
long chain Junipero toiled with such infinite 
patience and perseverence and fervor to forge. 

San Juan Capistrano is situated in one of the most 
romantic spots in California. “ The country here 
for several miles is high table-land, running boldly 
to shore and breaking off in a steep hill, at the foot 
of which the waters of the Pacific are constantly 
dashing.” 

It is now a pretty little village nestling in a hol¬ 
low and surrounded by smooth, low, conical hills, 
while in the not-far distance the waters of the 


278 Junipero Serra 

Pacific roll restlessly against its shores. The mis¬ 
sion lies on a slight elevation at the head of the vil¬ 
lage, and from its shaded, arched corridors one can 
watch the sleepy life of the little street. Until its 
destruction in the earthquake of 1812, San Juan 
Capistrano had the handsomest mission building 
in California and even now its ruins speak elo¬ 
quently of former grandeur. Under the tiled roof 
of the long stone corridors, where massive pillars 
give support to rose and honeysuckle vines — 
whose pink and yellow flowers exhale a delicate 
fragrance — swallows have built their nests in 
undisturbed and twittering peace. Orange trees, 
palms, and brilliant berried pepper trees throw a 
pleasant shade in the grass-grown courtyard, 
deserted now by all its former silver-tongued Span¬ 
ish occupants. The buzzing of tiny winged things, 
the song of the mocking bird, the frightened flutter 
of a great white owl, as it flies out from its retreat 
in the ruined sacristy where some curious stranger 
has disturbed its slumbers, are the only sounds 
heard today in the San Juan Capistrano mission, 
once so prosperous in converts and teeming with 
busy life. 

In order to hasten the construction of the build¬ 
ings, Junipero trudged to San Gabriel, many miles 
to the north, to procure neophytes to assist in the 
work, and to bring back additional provisions and 
some cattle for the new mission. On his return the 
energetic old friar found the gait of the pack mules 
and animals too slow, and in spite of his lameness 



Copyright, Detroit Photographic Co. 

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, OUTER CORRIDOR 



THE BELLS OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO 














Encouragements 279 

he pushed on in advance, accompanied only by a 
San Gabriel neophyte and one of the soldiers who 
had charge of the cattle. 

When within ten leagues of San Capistrano, he 
heard wild war cries, and saw rushing towards him 
a horde of armed and painted savages. He stood 
still, the strange exaltation of the religious enthusi¬ 
ast who has longed for martyrdom upon him. But 
the ready wit of the neophyte saved his life. He 
shouted a quick warning to the savages not to kill 
the old man, as soldiers were approaching who 
would revenge in a terrible manner the death of 
their padre. On hearing their own language, the 
savages, impelled by curiosity, stopped to listen. 
Junipero then fearlessly approached them. With 
gifts of colored glass beads he soon caused them to 
forget their hostile intentions in a childish delight 
in their new ornaments. After urging them to 
come to the mission and learn the true faith, Juni¬ 
pero with the soldier and their loyal guide con¬ 
tinued unmolested on their way. 

Junipero remained at Capistrano to see the build¬ 
ings successfully commenced, then he again 
resumed his northward journey. Before leaving he 
addressed — with the aid of an interpreter — the 
throng of savages who, incited by curiosity, ridi¬ 
cule, and defiance, surrounded the new mission. 
His eloquence, all made of love, pity, and pious 
zeal, if more than partially lost through the dull 
medium of an uninspired neophyte, must still have 
roused in the wondering natives a certain desire to 



280 


Jumpero Serra 

test the truth of his promises, for San Capistrano 
soon became rich in converts. 

Jumpero stopped on his way north at the inter¬ 
vening missions, encouraging the padres, advising, 
praising, admonishing, as he deemed expedient. 
With his entrance into a mission there came a 
breath of new strength, of new hope to those within. 
He preached, baptized, and taught during even his 
shortest sojourn. There was no toil which he 
spared himself. He worked with all his energy; 
his hours were long; his interest unceasing. He 
examined every detail connected with the estab¬ 
lishment. Nothing was considered too trivial to 
merit his attention. He marked the condition of 
the neophytes, the progress the friars had made in 
Christianizing them, the number of new converts 
as compared with those of other missions. He 
examined the vegetable gardens, the fields which 
had been newly planted, the crops which had been 
recently harvested. He noted the increase of live 
stock, the quantity of fruit trees and how they 
thrived; the new roof of tiles on the church, the 
new set of shelves for the padres’ books; and every¬ 
where he pointed out practical ways and means of 
attaining desired results. His visits left the friars 
with fresh ardor for their spiritual labors and with 
wise suggestions for the betterment of their mis¬ 
sion. This combination of profoundly spiritual 
life and executive ability, of religious fanaticism 
and practical common sense, leaves one amazed. 
Jumpero was in truth not ,only the master-spirit of 


Encouragements 281 

the conquest, but the inspiration and guiding genius 
of every missionary in the province. 

During the remainder of his lifetime he made 
periodical visits to the missions and always on foot. 
Forcible contrasts have been drawn by several writ¬ 
ers between the strength and endurance of the men 
of the present and that of the hardy pioneers whose 
memorable journeys of hundreds — nay thousands 
— of miles were all performed on horseback. But 
if those riders of the past command our admiration, 
what can we say of the man whose indomitable 
spirit and untiring energy enabled him to cover the 
immense distances of the Californian coast on foot? 
Lame, footsore and immensely weary, he traversed 
the wilderness, buoyed not by the glory of discovery 
or the lust for gold, but by love and pity for his 
fellowmen. 

In the intervals of these journeys Junipero wrote 
frequent and long letters of instructions, advice, 
and encouragement to the padres. His letters were 
copious; one is inclined to add, relentlessly copious. 
There was no detail beneath his interest. Now and 
then a little touch of quiet humor crept into these 
serious epistles, as when he urged a discouraged 
missionary to reconsider his request to return to 
Mexico and reminded him of the friar, who asked 
permission to retire to his cell instead of attending 
matins because he did not feel in a good humor, to 
whom the superior replied, that if such an excuse 
were admitted “ every friar would retire, and I 
among the first.” 




282 


Junipero Serra 

Junipero had not been present at the founding 
of all the California establishments, yet their exist¬ 
ence was directly due to his constant supplications 
to the viceroy, his efficiency in obtaining ways and 
means, his insistent soliciting of the authorities both 
by word of mouth and by writing. Every few 
weeks soldier couriers carried the mail from Mon¬ 
terey or San Diego to Baja California, where it was 
forwarded to its destination. On these occasions 
Junipero never failed to send long letters to the 
viceroy, to the guardian of San Fernando, even to 
Jose de Galvez in Spain, to everyone, in fact, who 
could further his projects of increasing the num¬ 
ber of missions. In these letters he advanced argu¬ 
ments, made pleas, cited facts to prove the necessity 
of additional establishments in the province. Every 
summer or autumn, when the yearly transport 
entered the harbor, he was ready with another batch 
of bulky letters to the same personages, pleading 
the same old story. He gave the authorities no 
peace in the matter and by sheer persistence always 
managed to gain his point, although his continued 
iterations invoked the groans of his well-wishers in 
Mexico. To not a few high officials in Mexico the 
worthy friar had appeared importunate and weari¬ 
some with his ceaseless pleadings for new missions. 

“ This Father Junipero,” they said, “ is a saintly 
man, but in the matter of asking to found missions 
he is a troublesome saint.” * 


* Palou, Vida, p. 309. 


Encouragements 283 

It was January when Junipero reached Monte¬ 
rey, the front door, so to speak, of his own mission 
San Carlos. Monterey was at this time merely a 
collection of huts enclosed by a wooden fence called 
a palisade, the whole dignified by the name of 
presidio. 

It was garrisoned by about twenty soldiers. 

In the main, life in the presidio was a dull one. 
In Fray Junipero’s time, no foreigner visited Cali¬ 
fornia. The arrival of the yearly transports was 
the only pleasurable excitement which came to this 
small Spanish world. When the sentinels at Mon¬ 
terey, during their monotonous beats, descried on 
the far horizon the gleam of white sails, the good 
news spread like wildfire through the fort, which 
forthwith took on an air of bustle and activity. And 
later, when the ship, with furled sails, rode at 
anchor in her usual mooring place, soldiers and 
peons who had been running back and forth 
between corrals and pasture fields, driving in the 
presidio mules, might now be seen riding with 
reckless speed down the hill to the beach, where a 
stout wharf had been built for the landing of the 
ships’ cargoes. Here amid shouts of gay laughter, 
quick exchanges of lively jests, and greetings of old 
acquaintances, began the busy work of unloading. 
The supplies were then packed upon the backs of 
mules and carried up the hill to the presidio, the 
heavily laden animals urged on to greater speed by 
the muleteers’ sharp cries and forcible ejaculations. 
All day long and the next and again the next, this 




284 Jumpero Serra 

constant procession of mule trains went back and 
forth between presidio and embarcado . From the 
near-by missions, friars accompanied by trusty neo¬ 
phytes, hurried to Monterey to take their portion 
of supplies, to hear the latest news and receive the 
mail. From neighboring heights, dark-skinned 
savages watched with keen interest this periodical 
commotion among the strangers in their land. The 
ship’s arrival was, in fact, a time of general rejoic¬ 
ing, arousing something of the same feeling of 
delight which travelers experience when they come 
upon an oasis in the desert. When, finally, the 
cargo was all unloaded and the ship, one fine morn¬ 
ing hoisted her boats, hoved anchor, and made sail, 
every man on the shore strained his eyes to take a 
last look at her graceful form as she sped swiftly 
out to sea. 

Then began again the dull monotony of presidio 
life, a monotony which never varied from month 
to month except on the occasion of feast days, when 
double rations were apportioned to the men, and 
Fray Junipero or Padre Crespi came over from 
San Carlos mission to say mass; or when reports of 
Indian troubles in the southern establishments 
caused a ripple of excitement, or a storm of appre¬ 
hension, according to the nature of the news 
received. The Indians in the neighborhood of 
Monterey gave little trouble. Occasionally an out¬ 
break was feared, but in the main peace prevailed. 
Civilization here did not come “ riding on a pow¬ 
der-wagon.” 


Encouragements 285 

Around San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel and 
San Luis Obispo the savages were not so amicably 
inclined. Especially was this true at the last- 
named place where they had made frequent assaults 
on the mission, shooting burning arrows upon the 
tule roofs and attempting to destroy the buildings. 
These attempts caused the energetic padres to 
experiment with the making of tiles for their roofs. 
They were so successful that soon every mission 
was supplied with bright, picturesque but durable 
tiles. 

Spanish California at this period seldom came in 
touch with the great history making events of its 
own times. Friars, soldiers, settlers, heard of the 
American Revolution only long after it was over. 
For the first sixteen years of Spanish occupation 
no foreigner put foot on California’s soil. The only 
ships that entered the harbors were the transports 
from San Bias, the only news they brought was the 
election of a new official to some government post, 
the last year’s health of the king in Spain, of the 
pope in Rome, the latest rulings of the viceroy, the 
latest quarrels of the Dominicans in the Baja Cali¬ 
fornia missions. Or sometimes the news would be 
of a more thrilling nature, as when they heard of 
the earthquake shocks which in the spring of 1776 
shook the City of Mexico during twenty days, and 
so alarmed the worthy archbishop that he fled to 
Guadalupe, while the wealthiest citizens aban¬ 
doned their homes to sleep in their coaches outside 
the city, the brave Bucareli alone refusing to join 




286 


Jumpero Serra 

in the flight, and remaining bivouaced in his gar¬ 
den, ready to extend assistance wherever it was 
needed. On one occasion a little ripple of excite¬ 
ment was caused in Monterey by the arrival of a 
royal order to keep a sharp outlook for the appear¬ 
ance of strange vessels off the coast and to prevent 
their navigators from entering any California port. 
This order applied particularly to a “ certain Eng¬ 
lishman named Captain Cook,” who was bound on 
a voyage of discovery in the South Seas. 

Carlos III. took every precaution to keep his 
operations on the Pacific coast secret from the 
European powers. He was so successful in this 
effort that the Spanish settlement in California 
remained for many years practically unknown to 
the powers with the probable exception of Russia, 
who, for reasons of her own, kept her knowledge 
secret. 

It was not till 1786 that the first foreigner visited 
Monterey. He was a French explorer, the gallant 
Sieur de La Perouse. We read in his journal: 

The English have lately found means of procuring 
a copy of the diary of a pilot of the name of Maurelle 
which they have published, or we should not even have 
known that missions existed at Monterey,* 

or, indeed, anywhere else in Alta California. 
This means that full seventeen years after the 
occupation of the country, when it contained eleven 
missions, six presidios and several pueblos, the 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 296. 


287 


Encouragements 

existence of these settlements was totally unknown 
to the world. The knowledge was derived from 
the reports Perouse sent home to his government. 
But even he was not fully informed concerning the 
extent of Spanish occupation in the new province. 
The French explorer came to Monterey provided 
with credentials from the minister of Spain, and the 
Californian authorities were instructed to accord 
him a cordial welcome. This was done, and while 
his eager quest for information about the country, 
her inhabitants, the number of missions and presi¬ 
dios, etc., were frankly satisfied, care was taken to 
keep him in ignorance of the colonization plans of 
Spain in the province and the existence of the pueb¬ 
los. We find in one of his letters to the French gov¬ 
ernment the following statement: 

New California, notwithstanding its fertility, does 
not yet possess a single European inhabitant. A few 
soldiers, who have married Indian women, and either 
live in the forts, or are scattered in small parties on 
the public service, and the different missions constitute 
at present the whole of the Spanish nation in this part 
of America.* 

In this connection it is also interesting to read 
what Monsieur Mommeron, who was with the 
French expedition, has to say concerning the prob¬ 
able future importance of California. 


* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 209. 




288 


Junipero Serra 

On Board the Boussole, 

Dec. 24 — 1786. 

A century or two will in all probability elapse before 
the Spanish settlements to the north of the peninsula 
of California will engage the attention of the great 
maritime powers of Europe; and it will be long even 
before the nation, in whose possession they are at 
present, will be able to found colonies there capable 
of making any considerable progress. Its zeal, how¬ 
ever, for the propagation of the faith, has already 
induced it to establish several missions; but there is a 
reason to believe that even privateers, of so little 
importance is the country, will hardly think it worth 
their while to interrupt the pious exercises of these 
ecclesiastics. 5 *' 

This was written of a land whose beauty and 
fertility soon drew men from the four quarters of 
the globe; whose salubrious climate made it the 
Mecca of the many, the land that became the El 
Dorado of 1849, the land that boasts the great port 
of San Francisco where East and West meet in 
commercial rivalry. When we remember all this 
one is forced to reflect on the futility of most human 
prophecy. 


* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 257. 


CHAPTER XVI 


DAILY LIFE IN THE MISSIONS 

J UNIPERO’S mode of life in his mission never 
varied. He rose with the dawn. He seemed 
to require little sleep. The greater portion of the 
night he passed in prayer. 

According to the verdict of the soldiers of the 
escolta, he passed the whole night in vigil and prayer. 
The sentinels were always hearing him and were 
accustomed to say: “ We do not know when the Father 
Junipero sleeps.” * 

At sunrise he said mass and afterwards distrib¬ 
uted breakfast to his neophytes. This task he 
always refused to delegate to others. His Indians 
were well-fed and well-cared for. He found time 
to cut out all the shirts and petticoats needed in the 
missions and all the little garments worn by the 
children. During stated hours in the mornings 
and afternoons he instructed the Indians in the doc¬ 
trines and observances of the church. In the inter¬ 
vals he taught the women to sew and superintended 
the labors of the men, tucking up his shabby friar’s 

* Palou, Vida, p. 313. 


289 


290 Jumpero Serra 

frock to work, himself, the better to show his pupils 
and to stimulate them to habits of industry by the 
force of his example. He was always kind to the 
neophytes, although he did not hesitate to punish 
them whenever he deemed punishment necessary. 
He refused to overlook, even in the newest converts, 
the slightest lapse from the strict code of morals he 
insisted upon, nor would he pardon the least care¬ 
lessness or neglect in church attendance or observ¬ 
ances. In spite of this severity the neophytes were 
devoted to him. They saw that he exacted from 
them no duty which he did not exact from himself 
with far greater rigor, that the punishments he 
inflicted upon his own delicate body surpassed in 
severity anything to which they were subjected. An 
intuition which belongs alike to children and sav¬ 
ages, taught them that in Junipero they had, not a 
teacher only, but a friend, a brother, and a 
champion. 

The routine of mission life was the same in all 
California establishments. Priests and neophytes 
rose with the dawn. Promptly at sunrise the church 
bells summoned all to prayer. Attendance was 
compulsory. The doors of the monjerias, where 
the girls and unmarried women slept, were 
unlocked by an Indian duenna called the madre 
abadesa, who was chosen by the padres for this 
office. From another building the boys and young 
men were released, from where they also had been 
locked in over night. At the same time, from out 
of innumerable little straw-thatched huts issued the 


291 


Daily Life in the Missions 

married neophytes and the entire dusky flock filed 
into church. They were joined by the soldiers of the 
escolta, for even they were not exempt from these 
matutinal prayers. The services lasted an hour. 
In the meanwhile large iron pots were placed on 
the kitchen fire. In these pots was cooked a por¬ 
ridge called atole. It was made from barley which 
had been previously roasted and carefully pounded 
by the women, until it had attained a mealy con¬ 
sistency. The Indians were extremely fond of this 
food. Many uninvited guests were present at these 
meals. From the near-by rancherias and from the 
mountains came hungry savages, who slipped 
silently into the kitchen. They were always given 
food. In this manner the padres encouraged their 
dusky visitors to return regularly, and finally, by 
adding gifts of beads and clothing, induced them 
to remain in the mission. Three-quarters of an 
hour was allowed for breakfast. Then work was 
begun. The more intelligent among the neophytes 
were taught to be carpenters, blacksmiths, tanners. 
Others were sent to cut and bring in wood for fuel, 
to dig in the garden, to plow, to sow, to harrow, to 
thresh and harvest according to the time of year. 
They were taught “ the great human duty of work.” 
Their agricultural implements were of the most 
primitive kind. A plow was fashioned by means 
of a plank and a small piece of iron, and, though it 
successfully scratched the ground, it did not turn 
or cut a furrow. The plow was followed by another 
and yet another, each one carefully pursuing the 


292 


Jumpero Serra 

same track, until the soil was finally sufficiently 
turned. It was a slow and laborious method, but 
remained long in use in the missions for want of a 
better. The harrow was nothing more complex 
than the branch of a tree. Sickles were not numer¬ 
ous and frequently the grain was pulled up by the 
roots; it was threshed by horses or mules treading 
it out; afterwards the grain was separated from 
the chaff in the old Biblical manner of throwing it 
up in the air and letting a beneficent wind accom¬ 
plish the rest. 

While the men were engaged in these pursuits, 
the women also had their occupations. They were 
taught to sew, to spin, to weave, or were set to 
pounding grain. It was not till the visit of the 
French explorer, the Sieur de La Perouse, in 1786, 
that hand mills were introduced. A Monsieur de 
Langle belonging to the expedition, presented the 
San Carlos mission with the first hand mill used in 
California. “ It enabled four neophyte women to 
do the work of a hundred in the old way,” declared 
La Perouse. 

The married women were also instructed in 
household affairs, particularly that part pertaining 
to the cleanliness of their dwellings. This must 
have required infinite patience on the part of the 
padres, for the Californians were instinctively filthy 
in their habits. Before they came under Francis¬ 
can control vermin abounded on their persons and 
their huts reeked with the vile odors of noxious 


293 


Daily Life in the Missions 

At eleven the mission bells were rung to announce 
the dinner hour. All work ceased. The Indians 
returned to their dwellings, seized their dishes of 
bark, and again filed into the kitchen to receive 
their food. Their dinner consisted of a thick por¬ 
ridge made of ground wheat, maize, peas, and 
beans. It was called pozoli and was very nutritious. 
La Perouse comments on the excellency of this 
food and suggests that his own countrymen might 
with advantage “ adopt this economical dish in 
years of scarcity.” (He is quick to add however, 
with the precaution of a French palate, “ with the 
addition of some seasoning.”)* Occasionally the 
neophytes were treated to an allowance of meat, 
which many of them ate raw, regarding the fat 
especially as a fine delicacy, t Three hours of leis¬ 
ure were permitted after dinner. By two o’clock 
everyone had returned to his alloted duties. One 
hour before supper the bells summoned the work¬ 
ers to vespers. After a supper of atole the Indians 
were free for the remainder of the evening. 

During the day their religious instructions were 
not neglected. The same system which Junipero 
had followed in the Sierra Gorda missions was con¬ 
tinued here. When we stop to consider that each 
mission had but two padres, that these two daily 
instructed hundreds of neophytes, shared and 
superintended their labors in the cultivation of the 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 198. 

■' Ibid., p. 199. 


294 Junipero Serra 

land, taught themselves the mechanic arts, the 
trades of carpenter, blacksmith, tanner, etc., and 
even, as in Fray Junipero’s case, the difficult art 
of sewing, in order that they could teach their 
Indians; that these same two men distributed 
rations, cut garments, preached, baptized, assisted 
at marriages, burials, acted as physicians, surgeons, 
attended the sick and dying during any hour of 
the day or night — when we consider all this we 
cannot but marvel at such prodigious labors. In 
one of their efforts the friars remained for years 
totally unsuccessful. They could not persuade 
the Indians to adopt a more civilized style of 
habitation. Their huts were built around the 
church; they were six feet in diameter and four in 
height; the framework of each was formed by 
stakes stuck in the ground and drawn together at 
the top; bundles of straw, not very carefully 
arranged, constituted the walls of the primitive 
dwellings. To the remonstrance of the padres, the 
Indians placidly replied that they liked plenty of 
air, that it was convenient to set fire to their houses 
when the fleas became too numerous and devoured 
them, and that they could build another in less than 
two hours.* 

The greatest precautions were taken to guard the 
young girls. They slept in the monjeria (nunnery). 
Every evening the madre abadesa stood at the door 
of this building and as the girls, laughing and jest- 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the World, p. 193. 




295 


Daily Life in the Missions 

ing, passed in to their sleeping quarters she called 
each one by name that none could absent themselves 
without being promptly discovered. When the 
maidens were all safely housed for the night, she 
locked the door and delivered the key to the padres. 
Whatever opinions may be held concerning the ben¬ 
efit derived by the Indian from his contact with the 
mission fathers, there can be no question that the 
condition of his womankind was infinitely bettered 
thereby. The Californian did not differ from any 
other North American savage in his treatment of 
woman and in the contempt he entertained for her. 
To the lot of the squaw fell all the drudgery. She 
was the slave of a husband who could divorce her 
whenever the whim seized him. She was entitled 
to neither his sympathy, his kindness, nor even to 
his barest consideration. To treat her otherwise 
than as an abject slave would have been to bring 
down upon himself the scorn of his companions. 
Nothing could surpass the degradation of her lot. 

When the Franciscan fathers took the squaw 
under their protection, treated her with kindness, 
shielded her from the brutality of the men, her life 
at once assumed a degree of security and happiness 
hitherto unknown to her. Thus the fathers exerted 
over the women an ever-increasing influence and 
were enabled to obtain complete control of their 
children, who, growing up in the missions, know¬ 
ing no other life, possessing no other interests, 
became the most devoted and stanchest adherents 
of the Franciscan missionaries. 


296 Jumpero Serra 

The girls left the monjeria only when they were 
married. This event was generally arranged by the 
padres, who were careful to bestow the most desira¬ 
ble among the maidens upon the most industrious 
and best behaved of the young men. This custom 
was not without its effect in inducing the young 
neophytes to be diligent and faithful. No woman 
was married against her will. If she objected to 
the husband selected for her, she was permitted to 
make her own choice in the matrimonial market. 
Through the fathers, the Indians learned the organ¬ 
ization of a family, which the world over is the 
first step towards civilization. Various methods 
were adopted to increase the number of converts in 
the missions. The one most frequently employed 
and according to more modern ideas the most legiti¬ 
mate, consisted in encouraging the savages by gifts 
of food, clothing, and small trinkets, to frequent 
the missions that they might see how well-fed and 
contented were their dusky brethren who lived 
under the protection of the fathers. 

There is no doubt that to many of the savages, 
mission life held out strong attractions. The Span¬ 
iards possessed firearms and could secure them 
against the pillaging attacks of other tribes. And 
there were horses in the mission. Although the 
California Indians had never seen a horse until the 
Spaniards entered their country, they became, 
whenever the opportunity offered, expert riders 
in an incredibly short time. But above all, the 
assurance of ample food at all times of the year and 


297 


Daily Life in the Missions 

without the necessity of skirmishing for it them¬ 
selves, appealed to their great and natural indol¬ 
ence. It often happened that an Indian would 
induce his friends and relatives to join the mission 
neophytes, and they in turn persuaded others. But 
to these harmless methods was afterwards added 
one which the best friends of the friars find diffi¬ 
culty in either commending or extenuating. Armed 
bands of neophytes were sent out to corral the unsus¬ 
pecting savages and bring them by force to the 
mission, where they were carefully guarded to pre¬ 
vent escape and were compelled to listen daily to 
the religious instructions of the well-meaning 
padres. It is doubtful whether this method was 
adopted during Fray Junipero’s lifetime, but it 
seems by no means improbable that the conquista 
espiritual, as it was called, would have met with his 
disapproval. 

To one who believed this life to be a period of 
probation, which would be followed by an eternity 
of bliss, or an eternity of torment according as one 
believed in the Christ or not, all methods which 
would result in saving souls must have appeared 
not only legitimate but righteous. Junipero had 
an unquestioning belief in the truth of every word 
in the Scriptures. He believed in the actual fall 
of man, in the existence of an actual hell, in a sal¬ 
vation through Christ alone. The effect of such a 
belief in a man of his character would naturally be 
prodigious. He would leave no stone unturned to 
increase the number of those who could be saved. 


298 


Junipero Serra 

Fortunately for Jumpero’s peace of mind he, in 
common with the majority of the early Franciscans 
and Jesuit missionaries in the Californias, enter¬ 
tained no doubt of the efficacy of conversion, how¬ 
ever sudden the change or politic the reason on the 
part of the infidel. The acceptance of baptism, 
the regular attendance at church, veneration of the 
sacred images and emblems of the Catholic faith, 
were sufficient in their minds to secure to an Indian 
full membership in the church. What the con¬ 
vert’s mental attitude was in regard to the Catholic 
doctrines and symbols, was of small consequence 
provided he could say his paternoster, repeat the 
names of the saints, and cross himself on proper 
occasions; and it remained a minor matter whether 
his childish intellect comprehended even partially 
the religious instructions he received. 

The friars depended in no small degree upon the 
effect produced on the mind of the savage by the 
paintings which adorned the churches. La Perouse, 
in describing the interior of the church of San Car¬ 
los says: 

It is adorned with some tolerable pictures copied 
from originals in Italy. Among the number is a pic¬ 
ture of hell, in which the painter seems to have 
borrowed from the imagination of Callot; but as it is 
absolutely necessary to strike the senses of these new 
converts with the most lively impression, I am per¬ 
suaded that such a representation was never more 
useful in any country. I doubt whether the picture of 
Paradise which is opposite to that of hell, produces so 


299 


Daily Life in the Missions 

good an effect upon them. The state of tranquillity 
which it represents and that mild satisfaction of the 
elect who surround the throne of the Supreme Being 
are ideas too sublime for the minds of uncultivated 
savages.* 

The padres also understood thoroughly the civil¬ 
izing influence of music, and they did not neglect 
to cultivate this art in the missions. With patient 
care they instructed the Indians who showed a taste 
for singing hymns. They taught them the notes 
and wrote simple melodies for their use. In later 
years music became one of the prominent features 
of mission life. Many of the neophytes developed, 
not only excellent voices, but pronounced ability 
in playing musical instruments. 

Sometimes the Indians became skilled artisans, 
and frequently moderately competent ones. To 
awaken their low, sluggish minds required infinite 
patience, infinite love, and unremitting toil. All 
this the early Franciscan fathers bestowed upon 
their friends. That they succeeded in teaching 
them as much as they did reflects such a vast amount 
of credit upon their patient labors, that criticism 
of their methods appears ungenerous. Yet the fact 
remains that the mission system was extremely 
defective. The Indians were completely under the 
control of the missionaries. Their occupation, 
their hours of work and recreation were arranged 

* La Perouse, Voyage Round the JVorld, Vol. II, p. 


192 . 


300 


Junipero Serra 

for them. At all times they were treated as chil¬ 
dren, they were not permitted to leave the mission 
without the consent of the padres; they could not 
own property or cultivate land on their own 
account; they were punished for delinquencies, 
rewarded for merit. From the second generation 
of neophytes, they became so dependent upon the 
friars that when left to their own resources to sus¬ 
tain life, they were pathetically bewildered and 
helpless. 

Permanent civilization, under such feudal con¬ 
ditions, it is apparent, was impossible. The Indians 
were not treated like independent beings; they were 
never encouraged to act or think for themselves, or 
to be otherwise than servilely dependent upon the 
missionaries. They were destitute of natural rights. 
The system was at fault, not the friars. The ambi¬ 
tion of the early Franciscan fathers was noble, 
instinct with lofty thought, with self-sacrifice and 
generosity. 

In closing this chapter I can do no better than to 
quote from the letters to his government of that 
astute observer and enlightened, liberal-minded 
Frenchman, Sieur de La Perouse, concerning the 
Spanish missionaries in California. 

It is with the most pleasing satisfaction that I speak 
of the pious and prudent conduct of these religious 
men which so perfectly accords with the object of their 
institution. I shall not conceal what I conceive to be 
blameable in their internal administration; but I must 
affirm, that individually good and humane, they tern- 


301 


Daily Life in the Missions 

per by their mildness and charity the austerity of the 
rules which have been prescribed by their superiors. 

A friend to the rights of men rather than to 
theology, I could have wished, I confess, that there 
had been joined to the principles of Christianity, a 
legislation, which might gradually have made citizens 
of men, whose state at present scarcely differs from 
that of the negro inhabitants of our colonies, in those 
plantations which are governed with most mildness 
and humanity. I am perfectly aware of the extreme 
difficulty of this new plan. I know that these men 
have very few ideas and still less stability and if they 
were to cease to be treated as children, they would 
escape from those who have taken the pains to instruct 
them. I know likewise that reasoning can produce 
very little effect upon them, that it is absolutely neces¬ 
sary to appeal to their senses and that corporal pun¬ 
ishment with rewards in a double proportion, have 
hitherto been the only means adopted by their 
legislator. 

But would it not be possible for ardent zeal and 
extreme patience to demonstrate to a few families the 
advantages of society founded on the rights of the 
people: to establish among them the possession of 
property, so bewitching to all men; and by this new 
order of things to engage everyone to cultivate his 
field with emulation or to direct his exertions to some 
other employment? 

I admit that the progress of this new civilization 
would be very slow and the attentions necessary to be 
paid tedious and disgusting; that the theatre of action 
is very remote, and that the applauses of the enlight¬ 
ened part of mankind would never reach the ear of 
him who should thus have consecrated his life to 
deserve them. Neither do I hesitate to affirm that 



302 


Jumpero Serra 

human motives are insufficient for such a ministry and 
that the enthusiasm of religion, with the rewards it 
promises, can alone compensate for the sacrifices, the 
disgust, the fatigues and the dangers of this kind of 
life. Still I could wish that the minds of the austere, 
charitable and religious individuals I have met with 
in these missions, were a little more tinctured with the 
spirit of philosophy.* 


* La Perouse, Voyage Round 

188, 


the World, pp. 187, 



mmW* hi- ' - « , , - <s Vi v^ c -- # ;T^>> 

Copyright, Detroit Photographic Co. 

MISSION DOLORES (SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS) 


































































CHAPTER XVII 


WITH NEVE AT MONTEREY 

C ERTAIN rumors, which had been in circula¬ 
tion for some time past, regarding the proba¬ 
ble removal of Rivera from his position of military 
commandant became verified by the arrival of cour¬ 
iers with authentic information that the first gover¬ 
nor of California had been appointed and was on 
his way to Monterey. Felipe de Neve was lieuten¬ 
ant governor of Baja California when he received 
the appointment which made him governor of the 
two Californias. By royal command, Monterey was 
created the capital of both provinces. This was the 
first official recognition Spain had given that her 
new possession was of vastly greater importance 
than the long occupied Baja California. It had 
taken exactly six years of hard, indefatigable labor 
on the part of a lame friar to prove to Carlos III. 
the real value of his latest territorial acquisition. 
Junipero’s bella cordona of missions was the means 
of riveting the king’s attention upon this favored 
corner of the world, and of finally spurring him on 
to firmly hold and carefully govern his new pos¬ 
session. The Majorcan peasant priest laid the foun¬ 
dation of the flourishing Spanish dominion in Alta 
California. He did this with perfect self-efface- 

303 


306 


Jumpero Serra 

Baja California nor to the glory of the Catholic 
church. Neve’s efforts were directed towards 
remedying these evils by restricting the power of 
the friars. It was these efforts which the Domini¬ 
cans vigorously opposed and which were the origin 
of their quarrels. If the new governor entered on 
his duties in Alta California with feelings strongly 
prejudiced towards missionary friars in general, it 
need not excite our surprise. 

He laid greater stress on the essential principles 
of individual liberty than did the missionaries or 
his predecessors. In matters of government how¬ 
ever, much depends upon the men who administer, 
and a system defective in itself can be made to 
produce good results. It is not improbable that the 
keen-sighted governor was unconsciously forced 
into a recognition of this truism, when, with his 
escort, he traversed the well-beaten trail through 
Alta California to Monterey, and visited every mis¬ 
sion en route, for after noting carefully the con¬ 
ditions of the neophytes, and the methods and man¬ 
agement in vogue in the establishments, he found no 
serious complaint to make as a result of his scruti¬ 
nizing inspection. At Monterey he was received 
with the customary military honors. Neve’s first 
care was to review the troops. In San Diego he had 
found the soldiers poorly equipped, not only as to 
their clothing but their arms, presenting altogether 
a wretched appearance. What he thought of the 
force at Monterey he left unsaid in his amazement 
at the condition of the presidio, which was now the 


307 


With Neve at Monterey 

capital of California, a capital consisting of a miser¬ 
able collection of huts behind a rickety fence, trying 
to do duty for a palisade. 

In spite of the beauty of the surrounding country 
Neve was disheartened at the prospect of remaining 
in this sordid place, and in a land so remote. He 
determined to ask permission to resign; he was in 
poor health and moreover had been separated from 
his family in Seville for thirteen years because of 
his military duties in New Spain. He, no doubt, 
thought it small compensation to forego longer the 
pleasures of family life, and the luxuries of civiliza¬ 
tion for the privilege of being governor of Spain’s 
most remote and isolated province on the Pacific. 

Promptly after Neve’s arrival in Monterey Fray 
Junipero came over from Carmel to see him and 
confer with him concerning the affairs of the 
province. Neve eyed with cold curiosity the shab¬ 
bily gowned, drawn-faced little man, who greeted 
him with a mild and humble deference. This then 
was the master-spirit of the California conquest, 
represented in a lame, emaciated friar, in whose 
eyes glowed the strange light of fanaticism, yet 
whose extraordinary capabilities and talents were 
shown in the progress and prosperity of every mis¬ 
sion in the province. The thought may have flashed 
through Neve’s mind, that if his predecessors in 
California had possessed a tithe of this Franciscan’s 
fertility in resources, a quarter of his energy and 
capacity, the presidio would have presented an 
appearance somewhat different in character. 



308 


Junipero Serra 

Junipero laid his plans before the governor with 
all his accustomed fervor. He had long been keenly 
anxious to establish missions in the thickly popu¬ 
lated region of the Santa Barbara channel. One of 
these missions was, as we know, to be San Buen¬ 
aventura, the establishment of which had been pro¬ 
jected as long ago as 1769. 

Neve listened, impressed, in spite of himself, as 
Junipero unfolded carefully his plans and stated 
his reasons for urging their adoption. The integrity 
of his character, the rush and whirl of his enthusi¬ 
asm, the singleness of his purpose, in which selfish¬ 
ness and personal ambition had no share, stood out 
with sharp distinctness against the background of 
greed and tyranny furnished by the friars Neve had 
so recently encountered in the peninsula. More¬ 
over, Neve recognized the wisdom of Junipero’s 
plans, which would, if carried out, result in con¬ 
trolling the channel natives. This was a matter of 
considerable importance to the Spaniards, as the 
peculiar situation of the Santa Barbara channel 
country permitted the savages at any time to cut off 
land communications between the north and the 
south. 

The governor, accordingly, wrote to Mexico, 
strongly advocating Junipero’s projects. He advised 
the establishment of a presidio in this region, also, 
as an additional precaution in protecting the new 
settlements. Yet at the same time that he forwarded 
these recommendations, he undoubtedly was 
already engaged in planning his reglamento which, 


309 


With Neve at Monterey 

when put into effect, would change the entire 
mission system and restrict the authority of the 
friars by removing their temporal power. Junipero 
was an old man, he could not live many years 
longer; his successor in the presidency of the Cali¬ 
fornia missions might be a friar of totally different 
character, possessing little of his splendid patience 
in efforts to civilize the natives, little of his desire 
to maintain the peace and happiness of his charges 
and thereby of the country. In his attitude toward 
the established mission system Neve acted in entire 
good faith. We shall see later, however, that his 
judgment was at fault in the extent to which his 
reglamento crippled the powers of the missionaries 
and in the time and place chosen for enforcing it. 
Junipero returned to his mission well pleased with 
the result of his interview with the new governor. 

Although Neve was firmly determined to resign, 
he was not the man to remain idle in his post in the 
interim, or to accept quietly the existing conditions 
of the presidio. He promptly began the building 
of a stone wall, 12 feet high and more than 500 
yards in circumference to replace the rickety 
wooden fence. He had the wretched huts demol¬ 
ished and substituted fair-sized adobe houses with 
barracks sufficiently commodious for the accom¬ 
modations of additional troops. 

So expeditiously were his plans executed, that 
within six months the new presidio was completed. 
While this work was under way, he made a tour of 
inspection to the northern establishments, Santa 



310 


Jumpero Serra 

Clara and San Francisco, and arranged for the 
founding of the first pueblo in California, San 
Jose de Guadalupe — now known as San Jose. 
Neve chose a site for the pueblo not far from the 
Santa Clara mission, in order that the padres there 
could attend to the spiritual requirements of the 
new community. 

He then selected from among the San Francisco 
settlers who had accompanied Anza to California, 
five families, also fourteen soldiers who understood 
something of farming. Sixty-six men, women, and 
children were gathered together to form the orig¬ 
inal population of San Jose. Each settler received 
a tract of land sufficiently large to plant three 
bushels of maize; he was also given a house lot, 
soldier’s rations, and ten dollars a month pay; in 
addition he was provided with “ a yoke of oxen, 
two horses, two cows, a mule, two sheep and two 
goats, together with necessary implements and seed, 
all of which were to be repaid in products of the 
soil, delivered at the royal warehouse.” 




CHAPTER XVIII 


BROTHERS MEET AND PART 
NEW policy in the military and civil admin- 



il istration of California had been in contem¬ 
plation by the central government for some years, 
but it was not put into actual operation until now. 
When Jose De Galvez, the great visitador general, 
was in New Spain, he realized the difficult, if not 
impossible, task confronting a viceroy residing in 
the City of Mexico, who was called upon to govern 
vast territories lying thousands of leagues distant 
from the capital. He accordingly formulated a 
plan which was intended to remedy this difficulty, 
and laid it, when completed, before the King for 
his royal approval. The plan provided for two 
independent powers in New Spain. Eight prov¬ 
inces, including the two Californias, to be called 
the Provincias Internas — because they were in 
the interior as regards the City of Mexico — were 
to be ruled by a governor entirely independent of 
the vice-royalty of New Spain, and responsible 
only to the King. His Majesty approved of this 
plan. A royal order, dated Aug. 22, 1776 put it into 


effect. 


The first governor of the Provincias Internas 
was General Theodore de Croix, commonly called 


311 


312 


Junipero Serra 

the Caballero de Croix. He was a nephew of the 
former viceroy, de Croix. He took up his residence 
in Neuva Vizcaino the following year. He himself 
wrote to Junipero announcing this change of admin¬ 
istration. Though his letter was dated August 15, 
1777, Junipero did not receive it until June, 1779, 
two years after it was written. This change of 
administration caused the venerable president not a 
little sorrow and anxiety. Bucareli had proved 
himself a firm friend of the Franciscan mission¬ 
aries. He had given his hearty support to Junipero. 
In the frequent disputes between the military and 
ecclesiastic authorities, his decisions had invariably 
been favorable to the latter. There had, of course, 
been long and vexing delays, and the uncertainties 
due to the great distances separating California 
from the central government, but this Junipero 
could bear patiently, assured in the knowledge that 
Bucareli’s decisions, whatever they were, would 
never be prejudicial to mission progress nor heed¬ 
less of the welfare of the province. Whether the 
Caballero de Croix would be equally friendly to 
mission interests, time alone would tell. Had Juni¬ 
pero been a few years younger, it is not improbable 
that he would have journeyed to Neuva Vizcaino, 
as once before, he had journeyed to Mexico, to 
personally solicit the interest of the new ruler in 
the California missions. But years of hard labor, 
years of pain, of sickness, of lameness, had made of 
him, at sixty-six, a very feeble, broken old man. His 
wonderful energy and enthusiasm were, to be sure, 


Brothers Meet and Part 


313 


not a whit less than the day he first put foot on 
California’s soil; but his body, wasted with disease 
and hardships, could no longer respond as formerly 
to his bidding. We see him now, pathetically 
anxious not to lost a moment of that earthly time 
which he felt was for him fast drawing to a close. 
He journeyed and, as was his habit, on foot, to every 
mission north and south, confirming neophytes and 
sons of Spanish soldiers in the presidios. 

He was occupied with these duties when couriers 
arrived, bearing tidings of the death by pleurisy 
of Bucareli in Mexico, and of Spain’s declaration 
of war against England. 

Governor Neve received orders to strengthen the 
defenses on the Californian coast, and in event of 
any act of aggression on the part of English ships, to 
make prompt reprisals. These orders, though made 
public with the customary formality, failed to 
create the least ripple of excitement in the province. 
Strange ships had never yet been seen off the coast 
and the Spaniards had no intentions of disturbing 
themselves with gloomy apprehensions because 
war had been declared by the mother county against 
a foe thousands of miles away. 

Though the routine of their lives was, in point 
of fact, not affected then or afterwards because of 
Anglo-Spanish hostilities, yet these colonists were 
to learn later that Carlos III. had no mind to let 
any of his royal subjects in this remote California 
forget that he was waging war. Every Spaniard 
was asked to contribute his prayers and also two 




314 


Junipero Serra 

substantial dollars to the cause, and every mission 
was called upon to donate produce in proportion to 
the number of its male neophytes. The flourishing 
condition of the settlements is shown by the manner 
in which this royal request was answered. The 
amount sent out from Alta California was $2,683. 
In addition to this sum, Governor Neve personally 
contributed $2,000. 

Junipero ordered public prayers said for the 
success of Spanish arms. But this distant war dis¬ 
turbed him far less than the death of Bucareli. 
Notwithstanding that California had been removed 
from the Viceroy’s jurisdiction, his influence would 
still have been expended for the benefit of the 
province. Bereft of this influential friend, Juni¬ 
pero suddenly felt the responsibilities of his posi¬ 
tion weigh heavily upon him. Governor Neve’s 
attitude towards him was not a friendly one. It 
would appear that two men, both ambitious for the 
good of California, both peculiarly adapted by 
their keen, practical intelligence to advance the 
march of civilization in a new country would have 
worked together harmoniously for this end. This 
unfortunately was far from the case. 

The governor, while sagacious and broad-minded 
in many respects, was, nevertheless, neither saga¬ 
cious nor broad-minded enough to tolerate in his 
little realm a missionary friar given to the senseless 
habit of self-torture, a man whose religious emo¬ 
tions took the form of hysteria, and whose lameness 
was the result of persistent refusal to accept medical 


Brothers Meet and Part 315 

treatment, who when urged thereto by anxious 
friends, responded, medicinam carnalem nunquam 
exhibui corpori meo .* (I have never given carnal 
medicine to my body.) The sane qualities of 
Neve’s mind revolted against all this, while his van¬ 
ity was immensely hurt by the knowledge that in 
this fanatical friar existed intellectual forces supe¬ 
rior to his own. It is difficult to ascribe any other 
motive than jealousy to Neve’s actions. We find 
him, soon after the appointment of de Croix, writ¬ 
ing to him complaining letters of the friars, accus¬ 
ing them of teaching the Indians to disregard the 
authority of secular officers, and to consider the 
padres’ rule supreme. Again he writes that the 
padres had on four occasions surreptitiously con¬ 
spired against the government; he attributes the 
failure of their efforts to his own policy and mod¬ 
eration. It is impossible to determine on what evi¬ 
dence the vigilant governor based his accusations. 
The most diligent student of early California his¬ 
tory will find nothing to indicate that either Fray 
Junipero or his friars entertained the least desire to 
plot against the government whose support was 
absolutely essential to the continuance of the work 
to which they had dedicated their lives. The 
absurdity of the charges is altogether too self-evi¬ 
dent to need refutation. 

It is but necessary to follow Junipero’s career as 
president of the California missions to recognize 


* Palou, Vida, p. 305. 


316 


Junipero Serra 

the utter incompatibility of these accusations with 
the character of the man. The governor was finally 
compelled to go far afield to seek a quarrel with 
Junipero, and we have the sorry spectacle of a 
singularly petty, unjustifiable interference on his 
part with the president’s ecclesiastical prerogatives. 
He began by peremptorily questioning Junipero’s 
right to confirm. In view of this fact it will not be 
amiss to relate here how he obtained his privilege. 
When Junipero first came to Baja California, he 
found in the archives of the expelled Jesuits a papal 
bull signed by Benedict XIV., conceding the power 
of confirmation to California missionaries, of the 
order of the “ Society of Jesus.” The right to con¬ 
firm belonged exclusively to bishops, but as these 
church officials seldom, if ever, visited the remote 
peninsula, the Pope did not hesitate to grant one 
of their prerogatives to priests of lower grade, in 
order that settlers and neophytes should not be 
“ deprived of the consolation of confirmation.” 
Fray Junipero promptly forwarded this papal bull 
to the guardian of San Fernando and begged him 
to obtain a similar privilege for the Franciscan 
missionaries in California. The guardian sent the 
document to Rome, and Clement XIV. renewed it 
in favor of the Franciscans. It was then submitted 
to the royal council of the Indies for approval. 

The papers, properly certified, were finally dis¬ 
patched to America; and Junipero, many years 
after he first applied for the privilege, received his 
pcitente, permitting him to confirm. He lost no 


Brothers Meet and Part 


317 


time in entering zealously into his new duties. He 
had confirmed 2,432 persons when Neve challenged 
his legal right to do so, in a manner curiously harsh 
and arbitrary, demanding to see the papal bull con¬ 
ceding Junipero his power. 

As the original documents were in the archives 
of the Rev. Father Prefecto, in Mexico, Fray Juni¬ 
pero found himself unable to comply with this 
demand. He, however, offered to submit the papers 
he had in his own possession, including a letter 
from the viceroy Bucareli in which he was con¬ 
gratulated on having received the “ faculty to con¬ 
firm.” This did not satisfy Neve. The provinces, 
he reminded Junipero, were no longer ruled 
through the channels of the viceroyalty, but were 
governed by the Comandancia General and 
through him by the governor of California, namely 
himself. 

“ Then Senor,” pleaded the old prelate, “ in that 
case, cannot you remove the difficulties, by taking 
my papers and affixing to them your official seal, 
so that the poor people need not be deprived of con¬ 
firmation? ” * 

But Neve insisted that the original documents 
alone would satisfy him, and that until he had 
communicated with the Caballero de Croix on the 
matter, all confirmations must cease. In writing to 
de Croix, Neve expressed his belief that Junipero 
had in his possession the original documents, and 


* Palou, Vida, p. 235. 


318 


Junipero Serra 

that he deemed it useless to try to acquire them hy 
searching the friar’s papers, for Junipero “with 
his unspeakable artifice and shrewdness would only 
succeed in hiding them.” It seems strange that 
the governor should have allowed his prejudice 
against Junipero to go to such lengths, and stranger 
still that de Croix should have sustained, even 
authorized, this petty persecution of an aged mis- 
sionary, concerning a matter which surely could 
not have been of vital consequence to the secular 
authorities. It would be evident to anyone not 
blinded by prejudice, that had Junipero possessed 
the original documents, he would unhesitatingly 
have submitted them for inspection. He would 
have done this not only to avoid a suspension of his 
privilege, but to prevent the harm and the gossip 
which such a suspension would give rise to among 
the neophytes, when it became known that the 
legality of his sacraments was questioned. 

Junipero wrote to the guardian of San Fernando, 
informing him of the situation and begging him 
to forward with all possible dispatch the required 
papers. Pending their arrival, he remained in 
seclusion in his mission. Broken in health, deeply 
humiliated, and full of anxiety for the future, the 
time passed sorrowfully enough for the old man. 
Finally, by the time de Croix had received and 
inspected the documents, sent to him by the guard¬ 
ian from Mexico, and found them to have been 
properly approved by both the crown and the 
church, and had communicated the fact to Gover- 


Brothers Meet and Part 


319 


nor Neve, more than a year had elapsed. In Sep¬ 
tember, 1781, Junipero received a notification from 
Neve, stating that there were no longer any 
obstacles to his administering the sacrament. Thus 
ended this curious incident. Palou, after chronic¬ 
ling the bare facts, adds (with a spirit of generosity, 
the more praiseworthy in view of the warmth of 
his affection for Junipero) that “ it is not to be 
supposed that this Senor (Governor Neve) was 
influenced by malice, but rather, lacking advisors, 
he acted as his judgment dictated.” * When the 
president received Neve’s letter, he lost no time in 
celebrating confirmation in his mission. Immed¬ 
iately afterwards he went to San Antonio for the 
same purpose, then returned to San Carlos to pre¬ 
pare for a tour of confirmation to the northern 
establishments. He was accompanied on this jour¬ 
ney by his old friend Padre Crespi, who had long 
keenly desired to visit San Francisco, which he had 
seen only as a primeval wilderness in 1769. 

With sandaled feet, coarse brown capote, and 
peaked cowl, the cord of St. Francis knotted about 
their waists, and a rosary and crucifix hanging at 
their sides, the two old friars set forth upon their 
journey one bright October day. They traveled 
slowly, stopping no doubt frequently to rest, for 
Padre Crespi was waxing feeble and, though 
younger than his friend, he felt the weight of years 
more heavily. 


Palou, Vida, p. 236. 



320 


Jumpero Serra 

Fray Junipero was at this time in his seventieth 
year; Fray Juan Crespi, in his sixty-second year. 
As they approached the new pueblo, San Jose, 
Crespi noted with astonishment the change a few 
short years had wrought in the land. He came in 
view of a very different scene from the one which 
had greeted the eyes of the weary explorers in 1769. 
On the wide expanse of luxuriant plain, watered by 
the Guadalupe River, were cultivated fields of 
grain and fruitful orchards, while roaming through 
the woodlands and rich meadows were herds of 
sheep, goats, cows, mules, and horses. The pueblo 
itself, was but an assemblage of small earth-roofed 
houses of plastered palisades, suspended hides not 
infrequently doing service for front doors. Yet 
even then San Jose must have given promise of the 
beautiful flower-decked city which now spreads 
its palms beneath the friendly skies. 

Sixty-six settlers formed the original population 
of the pueblo; among their number were a few 
women and children — a rare spectacle in early 
California days. The friars may have arrived in 
the settlement when the cows were being milked, in 
which event they saw a familiar scene oft enacted, 
no doubt, in their mission. 

The Spanish-American cow had a character of 
her own. She was candid and not very civil— (a 
rare combination is candor and civility anywhere) 
— and the Spanish-American pioneer, who under¬ 
stood riding far better than milking, found her 
more difficult to manage than an unbroken colt. 


Brothers Meet and Part 


321 


She was descended from the hardy cows who had 
tramped thousands of miles to California; she had 
all their mettle, independence, and muscular 
strength, and was, in fact, to be reckoned with when 
her milk, not her beef, was wanted, for it required 
the combined efforts of three men to draw it from 
her. Here, indeed, was a conspicuous absence of 
the proverbial pretty milkmaid with her shining 
pails and wooden stool! The men were carefully 
distributed. 

One held the cow by the head: a second held the 
reata confining her hind legs, and battled with the 
hungry calf, while the third milked with one hand 
holding the receptacle for it in the other. Milk-pails 
were unknown, and the rancho*s assortment of crock¬ 
ery was small, so that, if several cows were milked all 
the tumblers, tea-cups and bowls were brought into 
requisition. Meanwhile the ranchero, his wife and 
children, the unoccupied servants, and the stranger 
within the gates, assisted as spectators.* 

The missionaries, however, learned to manage 
better with their cows, for we read further that in 
1815 one of the San Francisco friars offered to 
supply the Russian explorer and naval officer, Otto 
von Kotzebue, whose ship was in the harbor, with 
two bottles of milk, at the same time assuring him 
that he was the only man in that part of the country 
who, after many difficulties, had succeeded in 
obtaining milk from cows! 


* Bancroft, Calif ornia Pastoral, p. 369. 


322 


Junipero Serra 

Fray Junipero and Padre Crespi, after stopping 
a few days at Santa Clara mission, continued their 
journey, promising on their return to assist at the 
laying of the corner stone of the new church. 

They traveled on up the coast, over undulating 
lengths of land densely covered with the knotted 
chaparral, the thirsty looking sage, the bright- 
berried cascara bush, sweet smelling little yerba 
buena, and with the rosemary and marjoram. They 
passed through wonderful forests of redwood, 
through smiling valleys and broad and fertile 
plains, and never far away the great Coast Moun¬ 
tains reared their rugged heads. Finally they came 
upon the eagerly anticipated shining sand dunes of 
San Francisco. 

Where the dry loose sand had been thrown into 
wave-like hills, covered with a thick growth of 
dwarf trees and shrubs, stood the mission dedicated 
to Saint Francis of Assisi. The mission was built 
on the Laguna de los Dolores, a fact which explains 
its later nomenclature — the mission Dolores, the 
name the old church still retains. The church was 
of frame and plastered with clay. It was fifty-four 
feet long. The mission-house, also of frame and 
plastered, was thirty by fifteen feet. Besides these 
buildings, there were the barracks for the guard 
and a few small huts for the converts. The presidio 
overlooked the blue-gray harbor of the “ Golden 
Gate,” one of the most beautiful harbors in the 
world. 

It was a fair day in October, when the two old 



SANTA CLARA MISSION 













































* 
















































































































Brothers Meet and Part 


323 


friars, weary, but happy, passed through the mis¬ 
sion gates. Palou was overjoyed at seeing them. 

It was for me an occasion of extraordinary glad¬ 
ness to see again both my well-loved superior and my 
dear school fellow, Fray Juan Crespi. In view of 
what was soon to occur it was as if he had come to 
bid me farewell till eternity.* 

They remained two weeks in the mission, during 
which Fray Junipero confirmed all the neophytes 
prepared to receive this sacrament. “ When they 
left,” wrote Palou, “ the pain of parting was for 
me, I believe likewise for their reverences, equal 
to the joy caused by their arrival.” Palou never 
saw his old schoolfellow again. A few days after 
their return to San Carlos, Crespi was seized with 
a mortal illness, and on New Year’s day, 1782, he 
peacefully passed into eternity. Junipero had 
remained in constant attendance upon him to the 
hour of his death. “ He was the first of us to be 
called by God,” says Palou sorrowfully. He was 
buried in the mission church, within the presbytery 
on the gospel side. The commandant of the Mon¬ 
terey presidio, together with all the troops, attended 
the funeral services. But the tears of the neophytes 
were the highest tribute paid that day to the 
memory of gentle Padre Juan. 

The death of his old friend and companion was 
a severe shock to Junipero and one from which he 
never wholly rallied. The journals kept by Crespi 


* Palou, Vida, p. 230. 




324 


Jumper o Serra 

during his life in California contribute valuable 
records for the present day historians of that coun¬ 
try; and, although they are frequently but a dry 
chronicle of the happenings of each day, his 
unwearying, faithful labors in the cause of the 
conquest shine through them all. 





CHAPTER XIX 




MILITARY MOVEMENTS 

G OVERNOR NEVE had received his promo¬ 
tion to a lieutenant colonelcy. This caused 
him to abandon his former intention of resigning 
from the service and of returning to his family in 
Seville. He began, instead, preparation for the 
occupation and settlement of the Santa Barbara 
channel region, which included the establishment of 
a presidio and the missions so long desired by Juni- 
pero. The soldiers destined to garrison the fourth 
presidio of Alta California and to act as guards for 
the new missions were to be recruited in Sinaloa and 
Sonora. From these points settlers were also to be 
obtained for a new pueblo to be situated on the Rio 
Porciuncula, four leagues from the San Gabriel 
mission. The pueblo was to be called Nuestra 
Senora de los Angeles. This recruiting duty fell to 
Lieutenant Colonel Rivera, who was ordered to 
leave Loreto in Baja California, cross the gulf to 
Sonora and gather recruits and settlers. Rivera’s 
instructions were explicit. He was to enlist married 
men only; in addition, he was cautioned to take 
those only who were known to have good moral 
characters, and who were physically healthy and 
robust. They were to bind themselves to ten years 

325 



326 


Junipero Serra 

of service. Both soldiers and settlers must be accom¬ 
panied by their families, and “ female relatives, of 
the settlers, if unmarried should be encouraged to 
accompany the families with a view to marriage 
with bachelor soldiers already in California.” Each 
settler was to receive ten dollars a month, regular 
rations for three years, and an advance of clothing, 
live stock, seed and implements; these last were to 
be paid for later from the surplus products of the 
land. 

Apparently these offers were not sufficiently 
seductive to induce more than twelve men to journey 
to Alta California, where, with their families, they 
were to form the population of El Pueblo de la 
Reina de los Angeles — that is, of Los Angeles. 
The requisite number of soldiers was more easily 
recruited. The expedition left in two detachments. 
The settlers, including among their number a sorry 
collection of Spaniards who had married mulat- 
tresses, accompanied by a few soldiers, crossed the 
gulf to Baja California, and from there traveled 
overland to San Gabriel. The second division, 
commanded by Rivera and consisting of forty-two 
soldiers with their families, marched over the route 
opened by Colonel Anza in 1774. They reached 
the recently founded pueblo missions on the Colo¬ 
rado River late in June. 

These pueblo missions Palou refers to laconically 
as un nuevo modo de conquistar * (A new method 


* Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 229. 


Military Movements 327 

of conquest.) They were made by combining in 
one settlement a few of the attributes of presidio, 
mission, and pueblo. The friars had no part in the 
temporal management of these new establishments; 
they were relieved of every care beyond the strict 
confines of their spiritual duties. They acted as 
pastors to the soldiers and settlers, and as mis¬ 
sionaries to the Indians. The converts were not 
required to live in a regular mission community, but 
were permitted to hold land and reside in the settle¬ 
ment with the Spaniards. To hazard this experi¬ 
ment among the fierce and warlike Yumas, was, 
as one historian declares “ a criminally stupid 
blunder.” * A criminally stupid blunder it, was, 
indeed, particularly when viewed in the light of 
the facts presented to the government by Colonel 
Anza and Padre Garces, concerning the character 
of the Colorado River Indians. Palou says that 
when 

* * * Captain Rivera arrived with all his 

Expedition at the Colorado River where he found the 
two Missions which have been described, he saw that 
the greater part of the horses and mules were sick or 
exhausted and fearing that they would die on the long 
stretch of eighty leagues which had to be crossed 
before reaching San Gabriel, he determined to rest on 
the banks of the Colorado until they had recuperated. 
He sent the main body of the expedition on under the 
escort of an Alferez and nine veteran soldiers from 
one of the Sonora presidios, while he himself remained 

* Bancroft. History of California, I, p. 358. 


328 


Jumper o Serra 

with a Sergeant and six men who had been sent from 
the presidio of Monterey by the sehor Governor to 
meet him.* 

Rivera made his camp on the eastern bank of the 
river, opposite the pueblo mission La Purisima 
Concepcion, which occupied the same site as the 
present Fort Yuma. He paid little heed to the 
warnings of Padre Garces that the Yumas were in 
a dangerous mood, that Palma, the former friend 
of the Spaniards was now their avowed and bitter 
enemy, and that in fact, a terrific storm was brewing 
which soon would burst upon them. In his dis¬ 
regard of these warnings, Rivera only followed 
the example of the commandant and every soldier 
and settler in the pueblo. Garces, and his brother 
friars had for many days vainly endeavored to rouse 
the Spaniards to an appreciation of their danger. 
Failing in this, they devoted all their time, not to 
the conversion of the few Indians who still 
remained friendly, but to “ re-awaken interest in 
religious exercises and thus to prepare the souls of 
the unsuspecting men, women and children for 
death.” 

Rivera’s presence had the effect of hastening the 
gathering tempest. The sullen and angry temper of 
the Yumas grew daily more pronounced when it 
became known that Rivera had no presents to give 
them and that his large herd of horses and mules 


* Palou, Vida, p. 241. 


Military Movements 329 

had trampled down and destroyed their mesquite 
plants. 

Three weeks after his arrival the storm broke 
with terrible fury. The pueblo missions, Concep¬ 
cion and San Pablo (the latter situated some ten 
miles down the river), were simultaneously 
attacked. So indifferent had the Spaniards shown 
themselves to the morose temper of the savages, 
that the soldiers went abroad unarmed and, when 
working in the neighboring fields, neglected the 
ordinary precaution of leaving a guard in the 
pueblo. These conditions prevailed that July morn¬ 
ing in 1781 when the Yumas swooped down upon 
the unprotected settlements, captured the women 
and children, massacred the men, and burnt the 
houses. The intrepid missionary explorer, Padre 
Francisco Garces, did not escape the fate of his 
compatriots, though valiant efforts were made by 
some of his Indian friends, to save him and his 
brother friars.* 

Rivera, in his camp across the river, realized too 
late his precarious position and too late attempted 
to take precautions to insure the safety of his men 
and himself. Entrenchments were hurriedly 

* Garces was the first white man to explore the 
country of the Mojaves, and the first to take the route 
of the Southern Pacific railway to the thirty-fifth 
parallel. In his exploration he reached the Moqui 
towns. He has left an interesting description of them 
in his journal. 


330 


Junipero Serra 

thrown up, but the surging, shrieking savages 
swarmed past them and entered the camp. The 
little handful of men fought desperately for their 
lives, but overpowered by the red-skinned demons, 
they fell gallantly resisting to the last. Rivera’s 
uniform was stripped off of his body by a Yuma 
chieftain, who was seen later proudly arrayed in 
the dead officer’s clothes.* 

So died Captain Fernando Javier de Rivera y 
Moncada. He was not a man of brilliant intellect, 
or great force of character, and possessed an exag¬ 
gerated sense of his own dignity and importance, 
but he was an honest, kind-hearted Spanish gentle¬ 
man, reserved in manner, generally liked by the 
padres and a decided favorite with the soldiers. 
His memory was long honored in San Diego, where 
funeral masses were said on the anniversary of his 
death. 

The news of the revolt came like a thunderbolt 
from a clear sky upon the company at San Gabriel. 
In particular was Governor Neve deeply affected. 
The establishments on the Colorado, there is every 
reason to believe, were founded in accordance with 
his plans, approved and adopted by his friend de 
Croix. 

The disaster caused Governor Neve to suspend 
further operations in California. He kept the 
troops massed and in readiness at San Gabriel in 


* Palou’s Noticias, IV, p. 231. 


Military Movements 331 

case the Yumas, hot with fight and victory, should 
in their arrogance swarm over the border and incite 
the Californians to a general uprising. These pre¬ 
cautions did not, however, interfere with the found¬ 
ing of the new pueblo, Nuestra Senora de los 
Angeles . The site selected was but a short distance 
from the mission. In the event of an alarm the 
soldiers would be close at hand to afford protection 
to the settlers. The winter passed peacefully 
enough and without serious indications of a native 
revolt, although the Indians in the neighborhood of 
San Juan Capistrano and those below San Diego 
showed a smoldering hostility towards Spanish 
supremacy that caused for a time a little uneasiness. 
All winter the soldiers were encamped at San 
Gabriel. They lived in an enforced idleness, con¬ 
ducive neither to patience nor to discipline. With 
the coming of the spring, when the trees in the 
mission orchards were in bloom, the camp took on 
a sudden appearance of activity, indicative of 
departure. 

Governor Neve had decided that it was no longer 
necessary or expedient to further postpone the 
occupation of the Santa Barbara channel region. 
He wrote to Junipero, requesting him to send two 
friars, one to administer the mission San Buenaven¬ 
tura and one for Santa Barbara. Junipero was at 
his own mission, San Carlos, eagerly awaiting 
Neve’s decisions. The six friars promised from 
Mexico had not arrived. They were expected on 
the next transport. In the meanwhile Junipero had 


332 Jumpero Serra 

but two supernumerary priests in all California. 
One of these was Padre Cambon, who had recently 
returned from the Philippines and was recuper¬ 
ating in San Diego from an illness; the second 
supernumerary was at San Carlos, where he was 
needed to supply the president’s place when the 
duties of the latter took him abroad. Junipero had 
long been too anxious to establish these missions in 
the populous channel country to permit any post¬ 
ponement because of an insufficient number of 
friars. He determined to take charge of the Santa 
Barbara mission and presidio himself, until the 
arrival of the transport, which would bring six 
missionaries. He appointed Padre Cambon for the 
San Buenaventura establishment, and started south 
immediately, stopping at the intervening missions 
to confirm some neophytes he had baptized on a 
previous visit. Late in the evening of a day in 
March he arrived in the little pueblo, Los Angeles. 
Here he spent the night. At an early hour the next 
morning he was up, hastening towards San Gabriel. 
In his eagerness to arrive, and probably in his 
weariness, the four leagues separating the mission 
from the new pueblo appeared to him leagues of 
exceptional length. He limped along with all the 
haste his years and feeble strength permitted. But 
once he arrived, the indefatigable old friar forgot 
his fatigue. 

It was the hour of mass; he himself officiated 
and delivered a fervorosa platica (fervent dis¬ 
course) as though he had not just completed a diffi- 


Military Movements 333 

cult foot journey of many wearying leagues. 
That evening Governor Neve called upon him. 
They did not discuss their plans, however, until the 
following day. The mission of San Buenaventura 
was to be founded first, then the presidio and mis¬ 
sion of Santa Barbara. The Governor was careful 
not to disclose to Junipero that the new missions 
were to exist under a system similar to the one 
which had been tried with such fearful conse¬ 
quences on the Colorado. Some of the more dan¬ 
gerous features of the experiment were to be 
omitted, but the departure from the usual mission 
system was pronounced, and was intended to pre¬ 
pare the way for a complete removal of the tem¬ 
poralities from the missionaries. So Junipero’s joy 
remained for the present unclouded. 

Governor Neve, with his personal escort of ten 
soldiers, headed the expedition. It consisted of 
seventy soldiers with their officers, including our 
old friend Lieutenant Ortega, who had been sum¬ 
moned from San Diego to take command of the 
more important post about to be established at Santa 
Barbara. Following the soldiers came their wives 
and families and a certain number of neophytes. 
The muleteers in charge of the baggage and pro¬ 
visions, together with the servants, brought up the 
rear. The padres, in this large assemblage, were 
few in number — only Fray Junipero and Fray 
Pedro Benito Cambon. The order to start was 
given. As the company set out with stout hearts 
upon their journey, many a Godspeed was sent 


334 


Junipero Serra 

after them by those remaining in the mission. For 
more than seven months the soldiers with their 
families had converted San Gabriel into a fair¬ 
sized, and probably lively, Spanish settlement. 

Long after the expedition had made camp that 
night, a courier, breathless with fast riding, 
appeared before the governor’s tent. He had been 
sent in hot haste from San Gabriel to overtake the 
travelers and deliver a message from Don Pedro 
Fages, who had unexpectedly arrived at the mis¬ 
sion. Of Fages’ career from the time of his removal 
from the office of military commandant of Cali¬ 
fornia until the present we know little. He now 
reappears upon the scene as a lieutenant colonel, 
and under orders from the Caballero de Croix to 
report to Governor Neve in California for the 
purpose of consulting with him regarding certain 
punitive measures contemplated against the Colo¬ 
rado Indians. 

On receipt of the message, Neve turned his com¬ 
mand over to Ortega and retraced his steps that 
same night to San Gabriel. The expedition con¬ 
tinued its journey without him. Three days later 
the company arrived at a place called by Portola in 
1769 — Assumpta. Years ago it had been selected 
as an advantageous site for the mission San Buena¬ 
ventura. It was a singularly beautiful spot, not far 
from the sea beach at the southeastern extremity of 
the channel. Junipero performed the usual relig¬ 
ious ceremonies, then the work of building was 
at once begun. 



SAN BUENAVENTURA MISSION 

























































Military Movements 335 

Neve rejoined the expedition after an absence of 
two weeks. He found that the energetic president 
had the mission farm laid out, the digging of 
ditches for irrigating purposes well under way, and 
preparations generally established for a flourishing 
agricultural community. To make the most of time, 
to grasp and hold each moment lest it slip swiftly 
by him and so escape unprofitably from out his life, 
was, by the very constitution of his nature, charac¬ 
teristic of Junipero. It was this which caused him 
to push forward with unbounded energy, the estab¬ 
lishment of San Buenaventura in all its various 
details, without the least suspicion that Neve had 
contemplated for the new missions a system in 
which missionary management of temporalities, 
laying out of farms, planting, sowing, and reaping 
under the customary mission supervision, were to 
have no part. 

Whether Neve’s recent conference with Fages 
on the disasters of the pueblo missions rendered 
him less keen to institute a change in California, or 
whether he preferred that Junipero should receive 
the first notification of this change from Mexico, it 
is certain that he said not a word to alter the con¬ 
ditions already existing at San Buenaventura. 

This was the last mission founded by Junipero. 
With Neve’s arrival preparations were at once 
made to proceed with the other establishments. A 
guard of fourteen soldiers were left with Padre 
Cambon. This was the largest number ever 
assigned to one mission. The precaution was con- 


336 


Junfpero Serra 

sidered necessary in a region where the natives 
numbered over ten thousand crowded together in 
a comparatively limited area. 

Once again was heard the bustle incident to 
departure and the breaking up of camp. The 
women gathered their few household utensils 
together. The men hurried to and fro, busy with 
the loading of pack mules, and the adjustments of 
their arms and accoutrements, while the officers 
discussed with one another the most feasible route 
over which to travel. The presence of women in the 
expedition appears to have made slight, if any, 
difference in the number of leagues compassed 
during the day’s journey. 

On a beautiful little grass-covered plain, sloping 
abruptly down to the sea the travelers halted. 
Immediately behind this plain rose a rugged range 
of mountains. 

The physical conditions of Santa Barbara are 
almost perfect. The climate, while it tends to 
reposefulness, is not enervating. The sparkling 
atmosphere, the clear, unflecked sky, the blaze of 
light on sunny days — conditions which when con¬ 
tinuous first excite, then weary, and gradually pre¬ 
dispose the healthy man to a state of inactivity 
which has nothing in common with a state of 
serenity—are not repeated here day by day with 
unvarying regularity. Frequently soft mists sweep 
in from the sea, veiling the splendor of the sun, and 
imparting a refreshing moisture to the air. The 
traveler feels pleasantly braced, predisposed to con- 


Military Movements 337 

tentment, and to forget any trials which may have 
beset him. 

On a slight eminence, about a mile from shore, 
a site was selected for the Santa Barbara presidio. 
It was not far from a large native town called 
Yanonalit, after a powerful chieftain who ruled 
over more than thirteen rancherias. Neve took care 
to conciliate the great Yanonalit, hoping through 
his influence to gain the good will of the natives. 
He was successful to the extent of inducing the 
savages to assist in felling timber for the presidio 
buildings. For this work they were paid by the 
Spaniards in food and clothing. 

Junipero had arranged to remain in Santa Bar¬ 
bara pending the arrival of the friars from Mexico. 
But his plans were altered when he learned from 
Neve that the Santa Barbara mission could not be 
founded until the Santa Barbara presidio was com¬ 
pleted. As this implied a long delay, the president 
decided to return to Carmel in the interim and 
continue his mission duties there. 

He accordingly sent for one of the friars admin¬ 
istering San Juan Capistrano to look after the 
spiritual welfare of the soldiers, many of whom he 
had recently confirmed, and again took up his 
journey. He was happy in having founded San 
Buenaventura and in the prospect of adding soon 
another mission to his list. As he traveled north¬ 
ward, forgetful of his years and growing feebleness, 
he may have dwelt with a pleasant inward satisfac¬ 
tion on the work he had accomplished in this beau- 





338 


Junipero Serra 

tiful land. In their order from south to north, the 
missions he had founded were San Diego, San Juan 
Capistrano, San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, San 
Luis Obispo, San Antonio de Padua, San Carlos, 
Santa Clara, San Francisco. Four thousand neo¬ 
phytes were living in these establishments. Every¬ 
where the farms were prospering. There were rich 
fields of wheat, maize, and barley, while fruit and 
vegetables were raised in abundance. Mission 
herds of horses, mules, and horned cattle had multi¬ 
plied to 4,900 head. Of sheep, goats, and swine 
there were 7,000 head. New churches had been 
erected, buildings had been improved, fences and 
corrals made, irrigating works introduced. From a 
wilderness inhabited only by savages well-nigh the 
lowest in the scale of humanity, Fray Junipero had 
converted California into a flourishing Spanish 
province, where a traveler could start from San 
Diego on horseback, go north to San Francisco, 
and be assured a large part of the way of a good 
night’s lodging with Spanish fare and hospitality, 
and a fresh horse with which to continue his 
journey. 


CHAPTER XX 


FAITHFUL SERVICE TO THE END 

J UNIPERO arrived about the middle of June in 
the valley of the Carmello, at his mission San 
Carlos. His home-coming could not have been 
other than sorrowful. It was the first time in many 
years that the welcoming embrace of his old friend 
Crespi was not given him, the first time that the 
sight of the padre’s familiar figure and benevolent 
face did not cheer him, as he passed, weary from 
his long travels on foot, through the palisade gates 
of his mission. 

Besides his grief, another had come to him on 
the day of his arrival. Riding at anchor in the blue 
bay of Monterey was the long expected transport. 
Junipero’s joy at this sight had changed to bitter 
disappointment when he learned that not a friar had 
come with the vessel. Instead of the six missionaries 
he had expected, he received letters from the guard¬ 
ian of San Fernando, the contents of which plunged 
him into deeper dejection. To a man, every friar in 
the college had declined to serve in California! 
The reason of this amazing refusal was made known 
to him and he learned for the first time of the new 
system to be inaugurated in the missions. With this 

339 


340 


Junipero Serra 

system in force, the friars resolutely declined to 
undertake missionary labors in California. 

Here then was the end of Junipero’s beautiful 
dream. He would never see completed his bella 
cordona of missions, for which he had prayed and 
worked unceasingly. Even the links in the chain 
he had already forged with so much pains, were 
threatened with destruction. A clause in the new 
reglamento provided that in case of a missionary’s 
death, or retirement, no one should be appointed to 
take his place. This was intended gradually to 
reduce the number of friars from two in each mis¬ 
sion to one. So terrible a fate was this considered 
for the surviving friar that in his letter to Junipero, 
the guardian declared it would be better to abandon 
a mission than to subject a priest to such a life.* 

Sick at heart and sick in body, Junipero seems 
to have lost his usual clear perception of things. 
We find him, now, adding to the real anxieties 
harassing him the wholly unnecessary fear that 
unless he ordered the abandonment of San Buen¬ 
aventura, he would be guilty of disobeying his 
superior. 

He wrote to the friars of the missions nearest to 
his own and requested them to hasten to San Carlos 

* That his opinion was fully shared by the friars 
in California is apparent from a letter written by the 
scholarly Padre Lasuen to the guardian, in which he 
declared he would leave California if compelled to 
serve alone, “ for nothing save the commission of sin,” 
he said, “ could be so terrible.” 




Faithful Service to the End 


341 


for a conference. In response to his letter four 
friars came. Among them was Palou. The presence 
of this intimate friend was a comfort to Junipero; 
it gave him that support and loving human sym¬ 
pathy for which the feeble old man had, all uncon¬ 
sciously to himself, perhaps, been pining. He now 
read to the assembled missionaries the guardian’s 
letter. Then he asked, must San Buenaventura be 
abandoned? And if not, will the instructions con¬ 
tained in the letter be complied with? 

The missionaries, as may be supposed, did not 
find the question a difficult one to answer. The 
president was assured that San Buenaventura might 
continue to exist without the least infringement of 
the orders he had received. Thus some of the sore¬ 
ness of his soul was relieved. To have abandoned 
a mission already established would have been to 
Junipero an almost insupportable sorrow. 

These matters being settled, the friars returned 
to their several missions, leaving their president 
consoled. 

In the autumn Junipero learned of the return of 
his old enemy, Don Pedro Fages, as governor of 
the province. It appears that in September Gov¬ 
ernor Neve had joined Fages, for the purpose of 
entering upon a campaign against the Yumas. 
Neve did not return to California. He received the 
appointment of Inspector General of the Provin¬ 
ces Internas, while Fages succeeded him as gov¬ 
ernor of California. The events connected with the 
Indian campaign cannot be related here, except to 


342 


Jumpero Serra 

state briefly that it was in every respect a complete 
failure. The Yumas were not subjugated; the 
chieftains and their warriors were not captured; 
the Indians remained independent and hostile, and 
neither pueblo nor mission was again established on 
the Colorado, while traveling by that route became 
more dangerous than ever before. 

When Fages entered upon his new duties as gov¬ 
ernor, he was instructed to continue the policy 
which Neve had inaugurated. But before long it 
became evident to the home authorities that affairs 
were not flourishing in California. The persistent 
refusal of the guardian to permit the founding of 
new missions and the fact that only with such aid 
could the savages be peacefully controlled, com¬ 
pelled, after a certain lapse of time, a restoration 
of the old system. This was a distinct triumph for 
the friars. But Junipero’s consolation was small. 
He still was unable to continue his chain of missions 
for want of missionaries. At San Fernando College 
the friars numbered scarcely more than eighteen 
and only two missionaries could be spared for Cali¬ 
fornia, until longed-for reinforcements arrived 
from Spain. 

Jumpero dared not hope that he would live to 
welcome these friars from the mother country. 
Since his return from the south he had been grow¬ 
ing continually weaker. To the old trouble in his 
leg was added a painful affliction in his chest, which 
caused him intense suffering, and brought on 
spasms of suffocation. This infirmity was due to 


Faithful Service to the End 


343 


those “ acts of contrition ” it had long been his 
custom to impose upon himself, in which he beat, 
burned, and bruised his chest without mercy. 

Though weak and suffering he refused to rest. 
By the end of a year his excessive toil had brought 
on an acute and most grievous attack. He was not 
expected to live. But the arrival of the two friars 
from Mexico seemed to infuse new vitality into 
his bruised and suffering body. He now had some¬ 
one to substitute for him at San Carlos, when he 
again went abroad to administer confirmation. 

He began immediately to make preparations for 
leaving. Nothing could check him, not his own 
feebleness, not the earnest remonstrances of the 
friars. He felt that he would never be stronger, 
that on the contrary, his malady would steadily 
grow worse and it behooved him to make all possi¬ 
ble haste, for his license to confirm would soon 
expire. The bull of Clement XIV. granting Juni- 
pero his power was void after July 16, 1784. It was 
considered improbable that it would be renewed. 
He had therefore but one year remaining in which 
he could administer confirmation. The sick old 
man therefore, was determined not to defer a single 
visit. 

Before setting out for the southern mission he 
wrote to Palou. From this letter it is evident that 
he himself did not expect to survive the fatigue of 
his journey, for after giving his friend certain 
instructions, he concludes with these words: “ All 
this I tell you because my return may be but a letter, 


344 


Jumpero Serra 


for I find myself so much worse in health. Com¬ 
mend me to God.” * 

With a fresh breeze the ship sped swiftly out to 
sea. She rounded Point Pinos, the rocky, pine- 
covered termination of the Santa Lucia Mountains, 
which, extending out into the sea, formed the bul¬ 
wark of the Bay of Monterey, and sailed southward. 
The weather continued propitious. After a com¬ 
paratively short voyage, for those days, the travel¬ 
ers saw the low, rounded hills of San Diego. It 
was the time of year when this part of California 
presents a uniform picture of yellow and brown; 
when the grasses and wild oats are parched and 
withered by the heat of rainless summer days. On 
the clean sandy beach an immense quantity of kelp 
added to the brown and yellow effect of the scene. 

When the friar landed, he went immediately to 
the “ mother mission,” as the Spaniards called the 
San Diego establishment, and regardless of fatigue, 
or intense heat, began his work of confirming neo¬ 
phytes. Then, without resting, he started on his 
overland journey on foot, northward, intent only 
upon reaching each mission in order that he might 
give the sacrament to every new convert, each of 
whom he conceived as pining for this consolation. 
From San Juan Capistrano he passed on to San 
Gabriel. He found the missions prospering. Herds 
of cattle could be seen grazing on the tall grasses, 
wild oats, and California clover. Along the trail, 


* Palou, Vida, p. 263. 



Faithful Service to the End 


345 


now broadened into a highroad, were clumps of 
prickly pear, rising sometimes to the height of ten 
feet, which later would bear a beautiful purple 
fruit, exceedingly refreshing to the thirsty traveler. 
Here also were dense fields of wild mustard, grow¬ 
ing to a great height, their yellow feathery tops 
quivering in the hot, still air. 

As Junipero approached San Gabriel, he saw 
the large, flourishing fields of grain, the orchards, 
the vegetable gardens, and the busy neophytes in 
their midst. San Gabriel was one of the richest 
missions of California. The soil and climate were 
particularly favorable to the culture of grapes, and 
later this fruit became the most important produc¬ 
tion of the mission, over 100,000 vines being grown 
in the vineyards. 

These vines bear enormous bunches of fruit, weigh¬ 
ing from one to three pounds and more. Several vari¬ 
eties are cultivated but all of them are said to have 
been brought by the Padres from France and Spain. 
* * * There are fine clumps of palm trees near the 

Mission, and three grand vineyards, containing nearly 
two hundred thousand stocks. There are also four 
superb orchards and kitchen gardens and an immense 
garden of olives and another containing four hundred 
orange trees. The vineyards, gardens and orchards 
were surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of prickly- 
pear, or Barbary figs.* 

* Duflot de Mofras, Exploration du Territoire de 
VOregon , Des Californies et de la Mer Vermeille, 
1. p. 350. 


346 


Jumpero Serra 

At the time of Junipero’s last visit, San Gabriel, 
while prosperous, had not reached its period of 
greatest opulence. While he was painfully limping 
from mission to mission, confirming neophytes and 
baptizing Indians, Governor Fages was following 
leisurely in his wake, creating wherever he passed 
a certain pleasurable excitement, for he was accom¬ 
panied by his young wife, Doha Eulalia de Callis, 
and his little son, Pedrito. The senor governor 
had with difficulty prevailed upon his lady to come 
to California. Doha Eulalia had not an adven¬ 
turous spirit, moreover her honeymoon was past, 
and her interpretation of wifely duty did not 
include following her husband into the wilderness, 
exiling herself in a land leagues upon leagues away 
from Spanish civilization, where her only diver¬ 
sion would be riding through dark forests or roam¬ 
ing over pine shadowed cliffs by the sea. But after 
meeting General Neve in Sonora and being assured 
by him that California was no longer a “ land of 
barbarism,” that it was on the contrary, a delight¬ 
ful place in which to live, she yielded to her hus¬ 
band’s entreaties to join him in the new province. 
Accordingly they journeyed to Loreto, where the 
happy Don Pedro met her and together they trav¬ 
eled up to Alta California. Writes the governor to 
his wife’s mother: 

The journey was delightful. Everywhere along the 
route padres, Dominicos and Fernandinos, troops, set¬ 
tlers and even Indians vied with each other in showering 
attentions upon the travelers. The Senora Gobernadora 


Faithful Service to the End 


347 


is the Benjamin of all who know her; she is getting on 
famously, and Pedrito is like an angel, so rest assured, 
for we live here like princes. Doha Eulalia, a native 
of Catalonia, like her husband, belonged apparently to 
a family of considerable position and influence, a fact 
which I suspect had something to do with Don Pedro’s 
rapid promotion and good fortune at court. She was 
the first woman of her quality who ever honored Cali¬ 
fornia with a visit. It is related that on arrival she 
was shocked, and at the same time touched with pity, 
at the sight of so many naked Indians, and forthwith 
she began to distribute with free hand her own gar¬ 
ments and those of her husband. She was induced to 
suspend temporarily her benevolence in this direction 
by a warning that she might have to go naked herself, 
since women’s clothing could not be obtained in the 
country. Never-the-less, after a long residence at 
Monterey she left a reputation for her charities and 
kindness to the poor and the sick.* 

Whether Junipero personally welcomed Fages 
and the young “ Senorita Gobernadora,” on their 
arrival in Monterey, is doubtful, for the vital spark 
within him was nearly out. His license to confirm 
had expired on the sixteenth of July. When that 
day dawned Junipero had administered the sacra¬ 
ment to 5,036 persons and had baptized 5,800 
Indians. His work was done. He was ready to die. 
The same day on which his license expired the 
yearly transport anchored in the harbor of Mon¬ 
terey. It had always been Junipero’s custom to 
announce the arrival of this vessel to the mission- 

* Bancroft, History of California, I, p. 390. 


348 


Jumpero Serra 

aries and to forward to them the letters and pack¬ 
ages they had received. He did so on this occasion, 
adding to every friar’s mail a letter from himself 
in which he bade them an eternal farewell. In 
these letters “ seemed distilled drop by drop the 
very soul of the dying man.” * 

The missionaries of San Antonio and San Luis 
were sufficiently near to come to him without great 
effort, and this he begged them to do that he might 
give them his farewell blessing. His letter to Palou 
was carried on the transport which sailed to San 
Francisco. 

Promptly on receiving this message from his 
dying friend Palou left his mission and traveled 
hurriedly to San Carlos, where he arrived ten days 
before Junipero’s soul took flight from his tired 
body. He found his old friend very weak and suf¬ 
fering intense pain in his chest. Towards evening 
he rallied and went to vespers. He conducted the 
services himself and concluded with singing a hymn 
in “ celebration of the assumption of the Virgin.” 

As Palou listened to his rich, sonorous voice, in 
which no trace of weakness was apparent, his own 
hopes revived again. Turning to an old soldier 
who had known Junipero since the year 1769, he 
said to him: “ The Padre President, it seems to me, 
is not so ill.” The man, however, knew better. 
“ Do not let yourself be deceived, father,” he 
returned kindly, but with a conviction which 

* Bancroft, History of California, I, p. 410. 



SERRA CROSS ON MOUNT RUBIDOUX 



Faithful Service to the End 


349 


dashed Palou’s hopes, “ he is very ill, but when 
this blessed padre prays or sings he always appears 
well; nevertheless he is going to die.” * 

Five days before the faithful padre’s death, the 
transport returned from San Francisco and dropped 
anchor in the bay. It was probably due to a hur¬ 
ried summons from Palou that the ship’s surgeon 
passed immediately over to Carmel to see Junipero. 
The surgeon decided it was necessary to cauterize 
the sore chest. To this treatment the suffering old 
man consented. 

When St. Francis was dying he also submitted 
to the application of the white-hot iron. There 
was however a difference in the manner in which 
these two remarkable men bore the cruel ordeal. 
Of St. Francis we read: t 

When the poor patient saw them bring in the brazier 
and the instruments, he had a moment of terror; but 
immediately making the sign of the cross over the glow¬ 
ing iron, “ Brother fire,” [he said,] “ you are beautiful 
above all creatures; be favorable to me in this hour; 
you know how much I have always loved you; be then 
courteous today.” 

Junipero, on the contrary, showed no fear, made 
no sign. He remained calmly standing while his 
ulcerated chest was burnt. He bore himself with 
a fortitude almost superhuman; not a muscle of 

* Palou, Vida, p. 270. 

t Sabatier’s Life of St. Francis , p. 312. 


350 Junipero Serra 

his face quivered, not a sound escaped his lips.* 
The only result of this treatment, said Palou pity¬ 
ingly, was to afflict more that weary body. 

No sooner was the chest burnt than Jumpero 
went diligently to work cutting out garments for 
his neophytes from bolts of cloth which had 
arrived on the transport. So unmindful was he of 
his pain that we find him laughing cheerfully with 
Palou over some tale of the past. It had been 
brought to mind by the entrance into their apart¬ 
ment of an old Indian woman, more than eighty 
years of age. Before she left, Junipero, with his 
usual kind-heartedness, desired to give her a last 
token from himself. He had little left to give. 
Stepping into his cell, he returned with the blanket 
from his bed. His visitor was old; the blanket 
would help to keep her warm. 

When the woman, well pleased with her gift, 
had gone, Palou said with a smile: “ Are you pay¬ 
ing her for the chickens? ” 

Junipero laughed and replied, “Yes.” 

It appears that years before, when San Carlos 
was first founded, Junipero had in his mission a 
solitary hen with her brood of chickens. This lit¬ 
tle feathered family the friar tended carefully, 
seeing in them many future lively cacklers, who 
would lay eggs and furnish food for his mission. 
But Fate decreed otherwise. An Indian woman 
with a palate apparently formed for delicacies, 


* Palou, Vida, p. 270. 


Faithful Service to the End 


351 


even those unknown to her — for chickens were 
never seen in California until the Spaniard’s advent 
— ordered her small son to kill the entire brood, 
together with the mother hen. The culprits then 
enjoyed their feast. But the loss to Junipero’s mis¬ 
sion was great. The Indian who had killed and 
eaten the chickens was now cheerfully hobbling off 
with the friar’s blanket.* 

In the meantime the missionaries from San 
Antonio and San Luis failed to arrive. Their 
absence was a disappointment to Junipero. He 
told Palou that he feared his letters had not reached 
them. This proved to be true, for Palou, after mak¬ 
ing inquiries at the presidio, was informed that the 
president’s letters had been “ forgotten ” and were 
still unforwarded. A courier was immediately 
dispatched to the two friars, bearing an urgent 
request from Palou to hasten to San Carlos; but 
the summons was too late. 

The day before his death, Junipero expressed a 
wish to receive the viaticum — the sacrament 
administered to the dying. He announced his 
intention of going to the church for this purpose. 
In vain Palou urged him not to make the painful 
effort. 

“ I will adorn your cell as attractively as possi¬ 
ble for the visit of His Divine Majesty,” he said. 
But the dying man replied: u I desire to go to 
church. Since I am still able to walk, there is no 


* Palou, Vida, p. 304. 


352 


Junipero Serra 

reason why the Master should come here ” — faith 
and veneration beautiful and touching. 

When Junipero went to church that morning, it 
was as if he were officiating at his own obsequies. 
The commandant and soldiers from the presidio 
came over to San Carlos to attend the solemn cere¬ 
mony, and all the mission neophytes were present. 
Palou describes the scene. 

He [Junipero] left the Sacristy attired in the vest¬ 
ments and went to the Altar. When he had prepared 
the incense for the holy office, this zealous Servant of 
God intoned the verse Tantum ergo Sacramentum. 
Though his eyes were filled with tears his voice was as 
strong and sonorous as when he was in health. He 
administered to himself, the sacred viaticum, with all 
the ceremonials of the ritual, and when he concluded 
the pious feast, which under such circumstances I have 
never before witnessed, he remained in the same pos¬ 
ture on his knees giving thanks to the Master. He then 
returned to his cell, accompanied by all the people. 
Many were weeping, some because the service had 
affected them, others because of the pain and sorrow 
they felt that soon they would be without their beloved 
Padre. He remained alone in his cell, seated upon 
the chair by the table, in spiritual meditation. Seeing 
him thus I did not allow anyone to enter and disturb 
him.* 

It was well that Palou thus protected him, or the 
dying man would have been disturbed and in a 
manner that might have tried the fortitude of the 
most pious. 

* Palou, Vida, pp. 271, 272. 


Faithful Service to the End 


353 


A well-meaning, but blundering carpenter 
attempted to enter the cell to ask the dying man 
how he would like his coffin fashioned. Palou, sup¬ 
presing his tears, told him to make it as he had made 
Padre Crespi’s. 

Night fell. Silently a little flock of neophytes 
crept into the cell; they wished to be with their 
friend and protector to the end. 

Junipero did not sleep, nor did he seek his couch. 
Part of the weary night he spent upon his knees, 
supporting his poor chest against the boards of his 
bed, a position which somewhat alleviated the fear¬ 
ful pain which tortured him. 

We have another pathetic picture of him, lying 
upon the floor, his head resting in the arms of a 
devoted neophyte. The long night passed. Dawn 
broke, and still the worn, pain-racked body refused 
to die. Slowly the hours flowed by, while friars 
and neophytes watched. 

As the morning advanced, the sufferer was 
cheered by the unexpected visit of two friends who 
knew him well. They were officers of the navy 
whose ship had arrived in the harbor of Monterey. 
Hearing of Fray Junipero’s illness, they had has¬ 
tened over to Carmel. Their coming seemed to 
reanimate the dying man. He rose and embraced 
them, greeting them with many expressions of 
pleasure, and ordered the mission bells to be rung 
in honor of their visit. Then seating himself again, 
he immediately asked concerning their recent voy¬ 
age to Peru. He displayed a lively interest in the 


354 


Junipero Serra 

accounts they gave of their cruise. It was one of 
Junipero’s charms, one of the many striking traits 
of his character, that he never failed to take a keen 
and sympathetic interest in others and this he did 
even now, when his eager spirit was preparing to 
take its lonely flight into eternity. Those about 
him, seeing him so animated, began again to hope. 
But Junipero, after hearing all the officers had to 
relate, said to them: 

“ And now, senors, I must give thanks that 
though so long a time has passed since we last saw 
one another and though you have been so far away 
on your voyages, you have yet arrived in time to 
throw a little earth upon my grave.” * 

Then, turning to Palou, he gave for the first and 
only time instructions concerning his burial. 

“ Let me be laid in the church by the side of Fray 
Juan Crespi; afterwards when the new stone church 
is built, they can put me where they will.” 

For a time profound silence reigned in the cell. 
Then happened a terrible thing. Junipero, still 
seated in his chair, suddenly called aloud in a voice 
of anguish, “ I am afraid! I am afraid! ” Turning 
his terror-stricken eyes on Palou he begged him to 
read the Recomendacion del alma. When the read¬ 
ing was over peace returned to the heart of 
Junipero. 

“ Thank God, thank God,” he said, “ now I am 
no longer afraid,” and taking his diurno he began 


* Palou, Vida, p. 274. 


Faithful Service to the End 


355 


to pray. It was now past high noon. For thirty-two 
hours Junipero had not slept or reclined upon his 
bed; he had endured incessant pain and had suf¬ 
fered fearful mental anguish, and still the vital 
spark within him continued to burn, now fitfully 
flaring into brilliant flame, now flickering so faintly 
it scarce could be discerned. 

“ Now I will sleep,” he said and walked to his 
bed, formed of two rough planks fastened together. 
Without removing his monk’s habit he lay down, 
placed his large wooden cross on his arms and 
peacefully closed his eyes to the world. 

So died Fray Junipero Serra, in the seventy-first 
year of his age. 

When the neophytes heard that their old padre 
was dead, they scattered into the woods and fields 
to gather for him the wild flowers he loved so well. 
This tribute of affection would have pleased Juni¬ 
pero more, could he have known of it, than all the 
honors bestowed upon him at his funeral. He had 
never sought or desired tokens of honor in his life¬ 
time; he had more than once evaded them. The 
motto of the Brothers Minor applied to him with 
equal truth as it did to St. Francis, “ But God for¬ 
bid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ.” 

It was, however, fitting that so brave a soldier of 
the Cross should be accorded the honors given to 
a general of the army. The guns of the ship in the 
harbor were fired at half hour intervals during the 
day, and their solemn booming was answered by 


356 Junipero Scrra 

the presidio artillery and the dull tolling of the mis¬ 
sion bells. 

Officers, soldiers, mariners, and Indians attended 
the funeral services, which were conducted with 
great pomp and ceremony, and repeated again on 
the seventh day after his burial. 

Little more remains to be said of Fray Junipero. 
The early history of California is necessarily that 
of Junipero; he was the heart and soul of the con¬ 
quest; whatever was done to further the cause of 
civilization in California during his life, was done 
by him. He had brought into existence nine mis¬ 
sions, four presidios and two pueblos. 

The resources of his own internal force accom¬ 
plished for California what the combined efforts 
of his contemporaries in the province could not 
have succeeded in accomplishing. He contended 
with official blunders and official ignorance, with 
narrow pride, with petty jealousies of rival author¬ 
ities, with disheartening failures, and he contended 
successfully. 

It has been discerningly said that the great fea¬ 
ture of the character of Hernando Cortes was con¬ 
stancy of purpose, “ a constancy not to be daunted 
by dangers nor baffled by disappointment, nor wea¬ 
ried out by impediments and delays.” What was 
true of the great warlike conqueror of Mexico was 
equally true of the peaceful conqueror of Califor¬ 
nia. Nor is it to be forgotten that his first thought 
was always for the savages, whose fate affected him 
more nearly than his own. No man ever lived who 


Faithful Service to the End 357 

strove harder to attain spiritual perfection than 
Fray Junipero Serra. He never spoke ill of any¬ 
one. He hated lies and all manner of hypocrisies. 
Neither in his youth nor manhood did he succumb 
to the temptations to which he, like other men, was 
exposed. 

He was full of tenderness, of genuine simplicity, 
of sincerity. If in enforcing the rules of the church, 
in punishing moral laxity, he was often severe, he 
was none the less a gentle, kind man, quick to note 
the good traits in others as he was quick to admit 
faults in himself, which may be said to be the only 
time he ever bestowed a thought upon himself. He 
was by nature neither hardy nor adventurous, pos¬ 
sessing little, if any, of that passion for travel, that 
burning desire to visit strange lands, which has dis¬ 
tinguished the labors of many a good and zealous 
missionary. He was a student, eminently fitted 
both by nature and inclination to remain in the 
peaceful shelter of his convent, absorbed in theo¬ 
logical and dogmatic studies, preaching on Sun¬ 
days and fete days to the people of the town. Yet 
out of an unutterable compassion for his fellow- 
men, he deliberately left this peaceful life he loved 
to travel many thousands of miles across seas and 
unknown lands, to endure hardships and unceasing 
toil. 

Second only to his spiritual grandeur, was his 
intellectual greatness. Modest monk as he was, he 
was yet a born leader of men. Had nature framed 
him for a soldier instead of a friar, his men would 


358 


Junipero Serra 

have followed him into battle as devotedly as his 
loyal brethren followed him into exile in strange 
lands. 

Had he been civil governor instead of president 
of an order only, his executive ability would have 
been known in high places. As it was, being but a 
simple friar, he was California’s greatest pioneer, 
the first civilizer of our western coast. 


INDEX 


Anza, Captain, adventures on 
land journey to Monterey, 220- 
225; meets Serra, 225; goes 
with Moncada to San Diego, 
252; returns to San Gabriel, 
254; leads colonists to Mon¬ 
terey, 255; explores about San 
Francisco, 258; rebuffed by 
Moncada, 262-265; affairs with 
Moncada, 267-270; leaves for 
Mexico, 269 

Assumpta, name given by Portola 
to site used for San Buenaven¬ 
tura mission, 334 

Bucareli, Viceroy, 190; character 
and work, 201; confers with 
Serra, 202; sends ships north, 
238; letters to Serra and Mon¬ 
cada, 275, 276; courage at 

earthquake time, 286; writes 
Serra, 304; death, 313, 314 

Cambon, Fray Benito, at San 
Diego, 332; in charge of San 
Buenaventura, mission, 332, 335 

Carlos III, orders expulsion of 
Jesuits, 41; proclamation in his 
name at Monterey, 151; efforts 
to keep Pacific coast operations 
from the world, 286; Serra’s 
work enlightens as to California, 

303; approves new plan of gov¬ 
ernment for New Spain, 311; 
war with England, 313 

Carmel, name, 164; river and bay, 
164, 165; site of San Carlos 
mission, 165; of the present 
time, 226 

Cavalier, Fray, goes to San Luis 
Obispo, 185 

Choquet, Don Diego, captain of 
the San Antonio, helps in re¬ 
building San Diego mission, 271 

359 


Colonists for San Francisco, 254- 
256; delayed, 265; settled, 269 
Contra Costa, visited by explor¬ 
ing expedition, 88, 93, 99 
Cook, Captain, feared by Span¬ 
iards, 286 

California, Alta, expedition to ex¬ 
plore, 64; first mission, San 
Diego, 118; country described, 
120, 122; character and life of 
the natives, 121-128; unvisited 
by foreigners, 283, 285, 286; 
prophecy of Mommeron regard¬ 
ing, 287; first hand-mill in, 292; 
natives, 292, 294, 295; without 
horses, 296; Neve the first gov¬ 
ernor, 303; first pueblo, 310; 
change in administration of, 
311; governor De Croix, 311, 
312; assists in Anglo-Spanish 
war, 313; the cow of, 320, 321; 
effect of massacre by Indians, 
330; effect of Serra’s work, 338; 
Fages governor of province, 
341; condition in 1783, 342; 
Serra’s achievements, 356-358 
California, Baja, Jesuits driven 
from, 45; their work, 46, 47; 
Franciscan missions, 52-68; con¬ 
ditions of missions, 73, 74; 

character of the natives, 76 
Cow, description of the Spanish- 
American, 320, 321 
Crespi, Fray Juan, friend of Palou 
and Serra, 15; leaves for Mex¬ 
ico, 15; goes to California, 53; 
takes up work at Purisima, 56; 
at San Diego, and character, 
114; with Serra determines not 
to abandon California, 142; 
starts on land journey north, 
147; at Monterey, 155; associ¬ 
ate with Serra at San Carlos, 
169; accompanies Fages to San 



360 


Index 


Francisco, 180; friendship for 
Serra, 197; meeting with Serra 
and Palou, 226-229; character, 
228; goes north as chaplain of 
Santiago , 235; confers about 
Moncada, 266; accompanies 
Serra on confirmation trip, 319- 
323; feebleness and death, 320, 
323; his journals, 323 
Croix, Theodore de, first governor 
of Provincias Internas, 311, 312 

Dolores, church name at San 
Francisco mission, 322 
Dominicans, treatment of natives, 
305; opposed restrictions, 306 

England, a possible danger to 
Spanish possessions, 2, 45 

Fages, Pedro, enters California 
history, 61; expedition north, 
64; at San Diego, his char¬ 
acter, 113; agrees with Portola 
to abandon Alta California, 
138; starts north, 147; left as 
military commander of Cali¬ 
fornia, 158; conduct at Monte¬ 
rey, 161, 162; makes trouble 
for Serra, 174, 175; starts for 
San Francisco, 179, 180; his 
removal urged by Serra, 206; 
succeeded by Moncada, 219; 
changed attitude towards Serra, 
230; commended by Serra, 231; 
reappears on scene, 334; as 
governor of province, 341; trip 
with wife from Loreto north, 
346, 347; wife’s kindness, 347 
Food at the missions, 293 
Franciscans, send missionaries to 
Mexico, 7, 8; assume work of 
Jesuits in Baja California, 52; 
hampered in work, 56; spiritual 
charge of Alta California, 60; 
treatment of Indians, 305; lim¬ 
ited to Alta California, 196 
Friars, loneliness of, 76 
Fuster, Fray Vicente, at San Diego 
with Fray Jayme, 241, 244, 249; 
warns Moncada, 260; meets 
Serra at San Diego, 271 


Galvez, Jose de, Visitador Gen¬ 
eral of New Spain, 57; char¬ 
acter, 58; work for exploring 
expedition, 63, 68; orders push¬ 
ing of possession of California, 
146; provides fund for Cali¬ 
fornia missions, 159; instructions 
about Indians, 177; returns to 
Spain, 189; continued influence 
in New World, 304; formulates 
plan for government in New 
Spain, 311 

Garces, Fray Francisco, views of 
the Indians, 327; explorer, 329; 
killed by Indians, 329 

Guadalupe mission, visited by 
Serra, 75 

Indians, neophytes of Baja Cali¬ 
fornia in need, 72-75; character 
of natives, 76; attend services 
at Velicata, 82, 83; experiences 
of explorers with on northern 
expedition, 89-92, 97, 98, 101, 
102; show hostility, 103, 104; 
character and habits of Cali¬ 
fornian natives, 121-128; attack 
the mission of San Diego, 129, 
136; language, 131; about 
Monterey, 151, 152, 163, 164; 
about San Antonio de Padua, 
167; give trouble in the south, 
176; maltreated by soldiers, 
176, 177; attack and destroy 
San Diego, 240-251; about other 
missions, 284, 285; habits, 292, 
294, 295; taught music, 299, 
300; treatment by Franciscans 
and Dominicans, 305; character 
of Colorado river Indians, 327; 
Yumas attack and kill at La 
Purisima Concepcion, 329, 330; 
unsubdued, 342; weakness of 
mission system, 299, 300. 

Jayme, Fray Luis, arrives at Mon¬ 
terey, 165; at San Diego, 241; 
murdered by Indians, 245, 250 

Jesuits, expulsion of, 39-51; char¬ 
acteristics, 39, 46; menace, 41 

Junipero, disciple of St. Francis, 5 



Index 


361 


Kotzebue, visits San Francisco 
(*815), 321 

La Perouse, 125, 126; describes 
Monterey, 149; reveals Spanish 
settlements to the world, 286, 
287; refers to hand-mill at San 
Carlos, 292; to food, 293; na¬ 
tives, 294; describes church at 
San Carlos, 298, 299; views of 
the mission work, 300, 302 
La Purisima Concepcion, pueblo 
mission, 328; massacre there by 
Yuma Indians, 329, 330 
Lasuen, Fray, at San Diego, 271; 
opinion of new system of mis¬ 
sion government, 340 
Lord’s Prayer in the Dieguenos 
language, 131 
Loreto, 53; mission at, 59 
Los Angeles, pueblo founded. 325, 
327, 33i 

Lully, Raymond, work and death, 
6 

Majorca, described, 3; birthplace 
of Serra, 3 

Manila, trade with Spain, 45 
Marie Therese, letter to Marie 
Antoinette about the Jesuits, 40 
Martyrdom at San Diego, 240-251 
Mexico City, character and life 
in 1750, 23-26; earthquake, 285 
Mission founding work, 160 
Mission life described, 290-302; 
system defective, 299; hard¬ 
ships, 120-136 

Missions, send money to assist 
Spain in war, 314; pueblo, 326, 
327; list of those founded by 
Serra, 338; new system for, 339, 
340 

Monterey, located by Portola’s 
party, 149; taken possession of, 
151; described, 149, 150, 165; 
mission founded, 153, 154; work 
and life there, 160, 161; the 
presidio, 160, 162; visited by 
Palou, 219; road to Carmel, 22 6, 
227; colonists arrive, 256; in 
Serra’s day, 283, 284; made 
capital of the Californias, 303 
Moncada, Rivera y, commander of 
Loreto presidio, 54, 66; expedi¬ 


tion north, 66, 67; arrives at 
San Diego, in; character, 1x3; 
agrees with Pprtola to abandon 
Alta California, 138; succeeds 
Fages, 219; at Monterey, 229, 
232, 233; heads expedition to 
San Francisco, 238; at San 
Diego, 250, 253, 259; excom¬ 
municated, 260; conduct fol¬ 
lowing, 261; ill-treatment of 
Anza, 267-270; authorizes pre¬ 
sidio for colonists at San 
Francisco, 269; refuses permis¬ 
sion to rebuild San Diego mis¬ 
sion, 270; character, 274; sent 
to Loreto as Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor of Baja California, 304; 
recruiting duty for Los Angeles, 
325, 326; encamps at La Puri¬ 
sima Concepcion, 328; attacked 
by Yumas, 329; killed, 330 

Mugartegui, Fray Pablo, accom¬ 
panies Serra as volunteer for 
Alta California, 213, 214 

Music, taught by the Padres, 299 

Natives, see Indians 

Neve, Felipe de, first governor of 
California, 303; arrives at Mon¬ 
terey, 305; visits the missions, 
306, 310; confers with Serra, 
308; plans to restrict authority 
of the padres, 306, 309; builds 
presidio at Monterey, 309; 
strengthens coast defences, 313; 
unfriendly to Serra, 314, 315; 
forbids Serra’s confirming con¬ 
verts, 317, 318; promoted, 325; 
plans settlement of Santa Bar¬ 
bara Channel region, 325, 326; 
masses troops at San Gabriel, 
33°» 33i; found establishments, 
335* appointed Inspector Gen¬ 
eral of Provincias Internas, 345 

Nueva Vizcaino, seat of govern¬ 
ment of Provincias Internas, 312 

Ortega, Sergeant Jose, faithful 
service of, 99; brings relief, 
106, 107; character, 113; recom¬ 
mended by Serra, 206, 207, 230; 
promoted, lieutenant at San 
Diego, 240; assists at founding 
San Juan Capistrano, 240; in 


362 


Index 


command at San Diego, 242; 
takes command at Santa Bar¬ 
bara, 333 

Palou, Fray Francisco, early 
friend of Serra, 9; starts with 
Serra for Mexico, 12; at Mex¬ 
ico City, 31; goes with Serra to 
the Sierra Gordas, 31; and to 
California, 53 ; enters on work at 
San Xavier, visited by Serra, 71; 
his character, 197; goes to Alta 
California, and meets Crespi, 
219; acts as mission president, 
219; meeting with Serra, 225- 
229; ability, 228; goes with 
Moncada to San Francisco, 238; 
confers about Moncada, 266; 
greets Serra and Crespi at San 
Francisco, 323; reference to 
pueblo mission, 326, 327; con¬ 
fers with Serra, 341; and with 
Serra at San Carlos at the end, 
348 

Perez, Juan, commander of the 
San Antonio, 65, 109; arrives in 
time to save settlement of Cali¬ 
fornia, 146; at Monterey, 150, 
156, 157; sails for San Bias, 
157; commands the Santiago, 
214; on exploring expedition 
north, 235-237; services and 
death, 239 

Portola, Gaspar de, governor of 
California, 49; expels the 
Jesuits, 49, 50; at Loreto, 54; 
in charge of exploring expedi¬ 
tion north, 67; urges Serra to 
give up expedition, 85, 86; as a 
leader, 104; arrives at San 
Diego, hi; character, 113; 
starts for Monterey, 118; fails 
to locate the bay, 133; discovers 
San Francisco bay, 134; decides 
to abandon Alta California, 138; 
reenters settlement work, 146; 
undertakes a land journey 
north, 147; sails for San Bias, 
158 

Provincias Internas, 311, 312, 345 

Rivera, see Moncada 


Rocha, Corporal, at San Diego, 
246, 247 

Russia, danger from in Califor¬ 
nia, 1; feared by Spain, 57; 
possible designs, 216, 217 

San Antonio de Padua, 166; 
founded, 167 

San Buenaventura, plan to found 
mission, 61; delayed by Fages, 
178; founding, 187, 331, 332 

San Carlos mission, 61, 168-170; 
work there, 172, 173; receives 
the first hand-mill, 292; church 
described, 298, 299 

San Diego, Spain plans to fortify, 
58; decision to found mission, 
61; expedition arrives with 
Serra, 107; first visited, 108; 
arrival of the sea expeditions 
and disaster from scurvy, 108- 
in ; neighborhood Indians, 121- 
128; attack on the mission, 129, 
131; lack of provisions, 180; re¬ 
lieved, 182; visited by Serra, 
189; attacked and destroyed, 
240-251; Moncada refuses per¬ 
mission to rebuild mission, 270; 
work begun and stopped, 271, 
272; rebuilding and rejoicing, 
276 

San Fernando College, Serra 
there, 27-29; ten friars ap¬ 
pointed for Serra’s work, 159; 
Serra rests there, 200; number 
of friars, 342 

San Francisco bay, discovery by 
Portola, 134; Palou and Mon¬ 
cada the first white men to tread 
the shore, 238 

San Francisco mission, story re¬ 
garding name and location, 134; 
visited by Serra and Crespi, 322 

San Gabriel, 166; deplorable con¬ 
ditions under rule of Fages, 177; 
lacks provisions, 180; and re¬ 
lieved, 182; visited by Serra, 
188; visited by Anza, 224; 
colonists leave for San Fran¬ 
cisco, 254; Moncada and Anza 
there, 267; Neve masses troops, 
33 °* 33i; visited by Serra, 334; 
condition of mission, 344-346 


Index 


363 


San Jose de Guadalupe, pueblo 
founded, 310; visited by Serra 
and Crespi, 320 

San Juan Capistrano mission 
founded, 240, 276, 277, 279; de¬ 
stroyed by earthquake (1812), 
278; visited by Serra, 344 

San Luis Obispo, 185; founded, 
x86 

San Pablo, pueblo mission, de¬ 
stroyed by Yumas, 329, 330 

San Xavier, Palou put in charge 
of mission work, 56; visited by 
Serra, 65, 69 

Santa Barbara, importance of 
channel country, 187; presidio 
and pueblo, 325; attacked by 
Indians, 329, 330; settlement 
work renewed, 331; mission 
founding, 331, 332, 337; descrip¬ 
tion, 336, 337 

Santa Clara, mission founded by 
Serra, 338 

Santa Gertrudis, frontier mission, 
76, 77; visited by Serra, 77 

Santa Maria, encampment of ex¬ 
ploring expedition, 79 

Scurvy, afflicts sailors on the 
San Carlos, no, xzz; and later, 
133 

Serra, Fray Junipero, youth and 
early manhood, 1-17; birthplace 
and birth, 3; becomes a Fran¬ 
ciscan, 5; professor in Palma, 5, 
6; starts for Mexico, 12; at 
Vera Cruz, 17; walks to Mex¬ 
ico City, 23; his character, re¬ 
ligious beliefs, and appearance, 
22, 23, 28, 32, 36, 60; as 

preacher, 19, 34, 55; and flagel¬ 
lant, 34, 35; courage, 85; in 
Mexico City, 26, and San Fer¬ 
nando College, 29; volunteers 
for service in the Sierra Gordas, 
29, 30; president, 32-38; ap¬ 
pointed president of the Cali¬ 
fornia missions, 52; travels to 
Loreto, 53; joins exploring ex¬ 
pedition north, 60, 64; starts on 
foot and long land journey, 67, 
69-87; visits Palou, 69-71; 
visits Guadalupe and Santa 
G*rtrudis missions, 75, 771 

founds Velicata mission, 80-82; 


experiences with Indians on 
northern expedition, 89-98; 101, 
102; sufferings on the trip, 
106; at San Diego, 107; ap¬ 
pearance, 114; writes Palou 
from San Diego, 115; founds 
mission at San Diego, 118; com¬ 
passion for the natives, 127; re¬ 
fuses to give up Alta California, 
*38, 139, or leave San Diego, 
141; writes Palou of his plans, 
142; praying and waiting for 
the San Antonio, 144; trium¬ 
phant hour, 146; services at 
Monterey, 151; letter to Palou, 
I 53 -1 55 J appeals for help for 
mission, 157; with Fages at 
Monterey, 161; building a mis¬ 
sion, 165; founds San Antonio 
de Padua, 177; at San Carlos 
mission, 168, 169; difficulty with 
Fages, 173, 174, 178; letter to 
Palou about conditions, 182, 
183; starts for San Diego, 185; 
founds San Luis Obispo, 186; 
visits San Gabriel, 188; at San 
Diego, 189; friction with Fages, 
190-192; decides to go to Mex¬ 
ico, 192; in Mexico, 195-217; 
writes to Palou, 197; confers 
with Bucareli, 202; gains his 
ends, 204-211; starts for Cali¬ 
fornia, 213; visit with Palou 
and Crespi, 226; character, 228, 
229; commends Fages, 231; di¬ 
rects founding of San Juan 
Capistrano, 240; hears of mas¬ 
sacre at San Diego, 249, 250; 
appeals for Indians, 251, 252; 
greets colonists at Monterey, 
256; meets Moncada at Monte¬ 
rey, 266; goes to San Diego, 
270; begins rebuilding mission, 
271, 272, 276, 277; at San Juan 
Capistrano, 277; visits the mis¬ 
sions, 280, 281; his letters to 
the friars, 281; pleads for mis¬ 
sions, 282; manner of life, 289, 
290, 294; his faith, 297, 298; 
achievements for Spain, in Cali¬ 
fornia, 303, 304; letter from 
Bucareli, 304; confers with 
Neve, 307, 308; at the age of 
sixty-six, 312, 313; relations 


364 


Index 


with Neve, 314, 315; his right 
to confirm, 316-319; goes on 
confirmation tour with Crespi, 
319-323; meeting with Palou, 
323; goes to found San Buena¬ 
ventura and Santa Barbara mis¬ 
sions, 332; at San Gabriel, 332; 
founds San Buenaventura, 334, 
335; visits the missions, 337, 
338; list of missions and condi¬ 
tion, 338; arrives at Carmel, 
339; disappointments, 339; a 
new system for missions, 339, 
340; conference with friars, 
341 ; starts on southern tour, 
343; at San Diego, 344; north¬ 
ward journey, visits missions, 
344 - 347 ; at Monterey, 347; his 
work, 347; last days at San 
Carlos, 348-355; Palou comes, 


348; receives sacrament, 351; 
officiates at service, 352; last 
hours and death, 355; his work 
for California, and character, 
356“358 

Sierra Gordas, the, 29-30 

Santiago de Xalpan, 31 

St. Francis, 5; mission named for 
134; endurance of cautery, 349 

Velicata, Serra visits and founds 
mission, 80, 81; called San Fer¬ 
nando, 97 

Vera Cruz, character of the New 
World city, 18 

Vila, Captain, of the San Carlos, 
supports Serra, 143 

Vizcaino, Sebastian, visits San 
Diego, 108; mentioned, 133; 
starts south, 143; and the Car¬ 
mel river, 164 


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[Translation] 

THE CALIFORNIAS, OLD AND NEW 
NOTES 

On this map are written the names 
of all the Islands, Ports [harbors], 
Rivers, etc., as it is made to show 
where he walked, and the Missions 
which he, the Venerable Father Fr. 
Junipero Serra, their President, found¬ 
ed in New California. 

The Longitude is reckoned from the 
Meridian of San Bias. 

Made by Diego Francisco, Mexico, 
in the year 1787. 


CUJFORNIAS: 

TIGITA Y JVUEVA 

?D 'Ls\ 4 >toS . j 

cSnesta Cartano t( Se escrib los notnbr. 
\de tod. lasdslas^P, J~iios,y donuts, p. rtr 
! (\ecf%ajp. solo Jcmojlmt log. anaubdy^M* 
i sion.g e jua£y en la 
, tr. vJumpero err&. i bPrefi<). Je Mas. 

Pa ioruj.ef,artTjlaJa al meridiano 

L S. Sblas. 

tjroncoso fc. isteC] 

^ & < 9 . 1787 . J * 


W 5 gm 

'j.ru-W.X 


Map of Old and New California from 
the original in Palou’s Life of Junipero 
Serra. Translated for and annotated 
by George Wharton James, Pasa¬ 
dena, California, 1913. 




I .one al Left. 

(As:bU 


JLL 


(Courtesy of Qeorge Wharton James) 


























































































